


room for one more

by petals



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Accidentally Inspired by a Movie, Alternate Universe, American AU, Artificial Insemination, F/M, Female Harry, Female Louis, Gender or Sex Swap, Pregnancy, Sexual Content, Teeniest mention of Zarry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-03-30 18:29:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3947185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petals/pseuds/petals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>But Liam, well, he’s great and Louis worries about how he’s going to handle this, how he’ll process the information if it worked. And if doesn’t, well, it’s not like she’s going to tell him. Louis doesn’t know what she’s going to do. She doesn’t want to put it off, she wants this, wants a baby. But she doesn’t want to scare Liam off either, because it’s there, this thing. This thing brewing between them that Louis thinks might be something special, might be something amazing if they worked for it. </em><br/> <br/><em>Louis doesn’t want to screw anything up. </em><br/> <br/>Or the one where Louis conceives a baby the same day she meets Liam, making things a little bit complicated...and interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	room for one more

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leighbot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leighbot/gifts).



> Hiiiiii so before you get started: Louis is a cis girl in this story (Harry is too!). And this is a story that does deal with a pregnant character, so there is a lot of talk about the human body as it pertains to a cis female. Also, there is talks about the human body in regards to changes that take place during pregnancy...and well, just pregnancy in general. 
> 
> ab_hinc, I started writing you another fic based on two of your prompts, but it started getting really long, so for fear of not completing on time, I wrote this...which still turned out long lol. But I promise that I'll gift you the other fic as soon as it's finished, and I hope you enjoy this. I loved all of your prompts! 
> 
> Thank you to my beta J for all of her wonderful help and kind words. She's the best. All remaining mistakes are my own, I don't know em, don't own em, and please don't put this on another site.

It’s just like her other visits, Louis tells herself, fists gripping at the paper underneath her. It’s just like the other visits, feet in the air and doctor between her legs. The cramping is new, though. Her stomach doesn’t usually contract when she visits but he said that was normal. But he promised her that it was normal and the pain is light, barely noticeable.

Louis releases a harsh breath and squeezes her eyes shut when she feels movement. She can’t be certain what’s going on, because she asked the doctor to not walk her through it, but now she’s wishing that maybe he would be talking, even if it’s just about the weather.

It’ll be fine. She’s mostly just uncomfortable, but that’ll pass. It’ll pass and everything will be worth it in the end. She knows it will, when the baby is here and this is nothing but a distant memory.

“You okay up there?” Her doctor asks and Louis nods, forgetting that he can’t see her for a moment, as the thing inside of her moves around.

“Yeah, just… cramping a bit,” she says. “Feels weird.”

Louis thinks that it might be mostly mental, that it doesn’t really hurt as much as she thinks it does. But then the catheter is being removed and she breathes out, because yeah, that’s much better.

“Alright,” Dr. Grimshaw says, clapping his hands together. “The tricky part is over, now I’m going to place this sponge inside of you to keep the sperm where it needs to be.”

“A sponge?”

“Yeah, not like the one you use for your cleaning,” he says, disappearing once more. She can feel movement inside of her but then it stops, slowly disappearing.

“Now I’m just going to have you lie there for twenty minutes,” he tells her, taking off his gloves and tossing them in the metal bin. “So you just sit back and relax.”

“Okay,” Louis says, nodding at the ceiling. She hears his heavy footsteps, his boots clicking against the linoleum as he leaves the room, the door snapping shut behind him.

Twenty minutes. Louis can do it. Maybe. Her phone is on the other side of the room in her purse, because she thought it would be rude to use it while the doctor implanted her with sperm. It just felt—well, she wouldn’t use her phone during sex and she wouldn’t use her phone during any other doctors appointment, so why would she use it for this one?

Louis breathes out, huffing as her foot taps to the beat of the music she can finally make out now that her thoughts aren’t swirling around in a loop of _holyshitholyshitholyshit_. Louis laughs when she realizes that they’re playing Usher, the worst possible choice of music for a time like this. She’s supposed to be thinking about the fact that this is finally happening, everything she’s ever wanted. Kind of. She wants a baby and being inseminated doesn’t automatically mean that’s going to happen, but she’s taking a step. And it feels like the time. It feels like this is going to work. She’s passed all the blood work, took all the fertility drugs and now she’s here, with sperm donor 3829’s sperm inside of her, hopefully doing their job and knocking her up.

Louis only wishes that she had support, that she had someone with her to hold her and keep her distracted while the twenty minutes tick by.

>>>>

_Niall stares at her, eyes blinking slowly and mouth hung open slightly as he tries to process her words. Louis can feel her stomach knotting up the longer he looks at her, her shoulders squaring defiantly._

_“Are you insane?” Niall finally cries out. “You want to get pregnant?”_

_“No, I’m not insane. It’s the only thing missing from my life,” she explains. She’s gone over this with him before. She owns her own hair salon, she’s doing amazing professionally, but she hasn’t had a boyfriend in—well, it’s been a while. And she wants to take the next step with her life, and if that means she has to do it alone, then she has to do it alone._

_It’s the twenty-first century; she can raise a baby without someone else being there to help her with it. People do it all the time, men, women, everyone._

_“And since when do you hate children?” Louis asks, because Niall had been over the moon when his nephew was born, and then again when his niece came along._

_“I love children,” Niall defends, hands over his heart, as there’s a crash from upstairs. “That’s why I hate them. They probably just broke something.”_

_Louis rolls her eyes, flipping her long hair out of her face. “Maybe if you watched them they wouldn’t act like your house was their own personal zoo.”_

_Niall just glares at her, shouting up the stairs for Theo and Clara to explain what happened._

_Louis sighs, realizing that she’s not going to get much else out of Niall, now that he’s distracted._

>>>>

_“Are you insane?” Zayn says and Louis can’t help but roll her eyes. She regrets ever introducing Niall and Zayn. They’re turning into each other and it’s getting on her nerves, especially now._

_“You know how much I want a family.”_

_“Yeah, but like, why now?”_

_“Why not now? What better time than the present?” Louis asks, swirling her straw around in her drink. She stares down at the purple paint chipping on her nails and makes a mental note to get a manicure. She wants to look her best when she goes to talk to the doctor about insemination being an option for her. If she looks amazing then the doctor will be convinced that she can handle raising a child on her own._

_“It’s not even about the time,” Zayn says, sighing. “You’re using a strangers sperm to have a baby. He could be a serial killer.”_

_“They run background checks.”_

_“That doesn’t mean anything. They don’t immediately get caught; sometimes it takes years. I watched this program on television the other night and this guy went almost thirty years without getting caught. Thirty years. I bet they’ve got at least twenty guys like him in their database. Maybe fifty, if we want to be realistic.”_

_“Fifty serial killers,” Louis repeats, eyebrow cocked. “Do you listen to yourself talk?”_

_Zayn sighs, lifting his glass to take a drink. “I’m just saying, you don’t know who these people are.”_

_Louis knows that. She’s read stories on the Internet about people paying for one thing and getting another. But it’s not—It’s a risk, she knows that. And yeah, there might be killers that donated, but there could also be humanitarians that have done amazing things for the world. But she understands Zayn’s concern and it feels like a more appropriate reaction than Niall’s telling her that kids are awful because his niece and nephew knocked over something._

_“Well, what about your sperm?” Louis asks, watching as Zayn falters, choking on his drink._

_“What about it?”_

_“I could use yours.”_

_“Uh.”_

_“We can sign something that says I won’t sue you for child support or anything. You could be Uncle Zayn, not his father, and this way we’ll know that I’m getting the best quality sperm,” she adds, winking. “And then you won’t have to worry about serial killers.”_

_Zayn stares at her and then glances into his glass, frowning. He shakes his head, flagging the bartender down to bring him another. “So you’re thinking about insemination? That sounds interesting. I hear they have the best sperm in the city. Tell me more.”_

_Louis laughs, blue eyes sparkling as she tosses her head back._

>>>>

It’s raining as Louis leaves the doctors office, dampening her dress almost immediately as she walks out of the door. Louis doesn’t even care, she has a baby cooking inside of her (possibly) and she’s not going to let a little rain ruin her day. However, she is most definitely not going to let a heavy downpour ruin her hair. That’s not happening.

She rushes towards the street, tossing her arm out and holding the other one over her hair in vain to try and stop it from getting wet. It’s useless, but whatever.

A cab pulls up almost immediately, skidding to a stop in front of her and waiting for her to enter. Louis dives into the backseat blindly, slamming her door shut and nearly jumping in surprise when she sees a man sitting on the bench with her. He’s wearing a white shirt that is clinging to his muscular torso, a pair of jeans and workman’s boots. He’s attractive, almost stupidly so with big brown eyes and a sheepish grin, his fingers running through his damp hair.

“You’re in my cab,” Louis tells him, watching as his face falls.

“No, this is my cab,” he says.

Louis scoffs, leaning back in the seat to look at him. “Excuse me, I hailed it and now I’m sitting in it and it’s about to drive me home.”

The man laughs, this rich and deep noise that vibrates Louis nerves, probably in annoyance. The man is a cab thief. He’s horrible, awful. What kind of person takes a cab from someone? From a woman that just might be pregnant… Okay, maybe not pregnant right this second, but it’s going to happen. Louis knows it. And because she knows it, she can accuse this man of being rude to pregnant people.

“I didn’t see you,” he says eventually, eyes sparkling like he’s finding this amusing. “But maybe you saw me. Maybe that’s why you’re being so defensive.”

“We’ve already established that this is my cab, so obviously I was looking at the cab and not you,” she explains, honestly it’s not that hard. “Now get out.”

The cab driver sighs, turning back around to look at them both. “Is someone going to give me an address?”

The man sitting across from her just turns to look at her, trying to kick her out of the cab, probably. Whatever. Louis can walk. It’s fine. This man and his white shirt and pretty muscles and puppy eyes and giant biceps can take the comfy cab back home. It’s not a big deal.

“Fine, I’m getting out. Enjoy your ride,” Louis tells him, turning her nose up at him as she grabs her bag and shoves the door open, stepping back out into the rain. It’s still coming down heavy, in thick sheets that pour down on her without remorse.

She slams the cab door for good measure, resisting the urge to flip the stranger off as she stomps across the street. He’s completely and utterly ruined her mood, making her skin prickle in annoyance.

“Wait, wait,” someone calls after her and she turns, looking through dampened eyelashes to see the stranger coming after her. “That’s your cab, you should have it. I can wait for another.”

“What cab?” Louis says, motioning towards the one that just drove off, the one they both just vacated. “You scared him off with all your thievery.”

“Oh,” the man says, watching the cab long after it disappears. He’s frowning, bushy eyebrows bunched together in concern. “I didn’t mean—I didn’t,” he mutters, rubbing at the hairs on the back of his neck, his eyes are wide, mouth opened a bit and looking at Louis like he’s scared that he disappointed her.

And god, Louis doesn’t want to deal with earnest puppy eyes and a wet shirt clinging to muscle. It’s—no. She’s not dealing with it.

“It’s fine,” she says, sighing. “I don’t mind walking.” She smiles at him and then turns on her heel to go.

“I’m sorry,” the strangers calls after her and Louis waves him off, rushing down the street so she can get home and remove the sponge that the doctor placed inside of her.

>>>>

The salon is busy today, Louis notes, tapping the end of her pen against the appointment book. She’s the only one free of appointments, clearing her schedule for the week just in case the insemination made her feel weird. So far it hasn’t, but a quick phone call to Dr. Grimshaw told her that’s perfectly normal.

The door chimes as it swings open and Louis plasters a smile on her face, looking up and ready to greet the customer. Her smile falls when she sees that it’s Zayn, the boy grinning at her as he leans against the counter.

“How is my favorite pregnant girl?” He asks, fingers drumming against the surface. He winks at someone behind Louis and she rolls her eyes, leaning forward to swat at his arm. “What was that for?” He asks, pulling away to stare at her in disbelief.

“You’re going to jinx it,” she says, sitting back down and folding her arms over her chest.

“Alright, alright,” he says, holding his hands up. “So, whom did you finally settle on?”

“3829,” she tells him, unfolding her arms to lean forward, because this doesn’t jinx anything, so she’s happy to talk about this.

“Uh huh, and who are they?”

“Well, they described themselves as muscular, but lean, you know? And they said they’ve got light brown hair, very thick, with blue eyes. Oh and he’s a doctor, apparently, which means that he’s smart and I’m willing to bet very generous.”

Zayn nods and shrugs. “So he’s probably got red hair, brown eyes, and he sells magazines. He’s probably got a bit of a stomach, no big deal, and he’s probably balding.”

Louis stares at him, her mouth open wide as she reaches out again to slap him. “Can you not be a cynical ass for ten minutes, please?”

“Whatever,” Zayn says, shrugging in that effortlessly cool way that he does. It’s infuriating. “So what do you do now?”

“Wait,” Louis answers quickly, because that’s really all you can do, no matter what way you try and get pregnant. It’s not like your body emits a buzzer sound when it knows for sure that it happens, you just have to wait and find out. “But the doctor gave me the contact information for a single mom’s group, so I might talk to some of them and see how things went for them.”

“Wow,” Zayn mutters, scratching at his jaw. He’s staring at something; his eyes squinted in concentration as his head bobs up and down. “Guess it’s official, since you’re about to be initiated into a club and everything, huh?”

“I hope so,” Louis breathes out, getting up from her chair and motioning for Zayn to follow her. She knows the real reason he stopped by, because he wanted to get a free cut. She walks towards the back, stopping at one of the sinks and patting the seat in front of it, silently telling Zayn to sit down so she can shampoo him. It is Zayn’s favorite part, after all.

>>>>

Louis stares at herself in the mirror, spinning and shifting around to look at her body in every different angle. She’s wearing a pair of jeans and a loose tank draped over her torso. She yanks the shirt up, staring down at her exposed flesh in the mirror.

It’s the same as it’s always been, flat with just the slightest curve that she’s never been able to get rid of. Sometimes Niall calls her his squishy pillow, when he’s drunk and resting his head on her stomach as she plays with his hair.

She pokes gently at her stomach, trying to see if it feels any squishier. It doesn’t, but she might have to ask Niall to check it out, ask him if it feels any different.

There’s a clicking against the hardwood and Louis turns, shirt still tucked under her boobs to say, “Bruce, do you think there’s someone in there?”

Bruce looks at her, pawing at the hardwood as he barks.

“I hope so, too,” she says, tugging her shirt down and grabbing Bruce’s leash off the bed where she threw it down. “Alright, buddy, let’s go,” she tells him, rubbing behind his ears as she clicks his leash into place.

>>>>

There’s construction going on across the park from where Louis has taken Bruce, it’s loud and disruptive, piercing through the air and ruining their afternoon. They’re pouring cement into the sidewalk, repaving it and making it better, which okay, the city needs that, but Louis’ ears don’t.

Louis is watching them, stopping to let Bruce sniff a patch of grass. There’s one man in particular, one that’s tall and muscular and just all around wonderful looking from where Louis is standing. His jeans are hanging loosely on his ass, shirt clinging tightly to him as he carries bags from one truck to another.

It’s not until he turns around, bag no longer in his hands that she realizes it’s the cab thief. Of course it is, she thinks, that’s the way luck would have it. An attractive guy on the street and it’s one known to have screwed her over already, one that isn’t very kind to pregnant people.

Whatever. Louis spares his muscles one last glance before she turns back to Bruce, ready to move on from this spot. When she turns it’s to find her dog already staring at her, tail wagging and tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he looks up at her with big brown eyes.

“What?” Louis says, tugging gently on his leash to get him moving. “He’s a cab thief, that’s all.”

>>>>

The single mom’s club is in someone’s living room, Louis notes, mentally putting a strike one next it. It smells like cinnamon apples but the oven isn’t on and there’s no food in sight, just some sort of cheese and cracker concoction that a longhaired brunette is telling everyone she invented. Louis rolls her eyes, because yeah, sure she did.

It’s fifteen minutes after her arrival, fifteen minutes of inspecting the other women in the group – there are only five of them, but each of them have round swollen bellies, some larger than others – when the meeting starts. The longhaired girl from before, who is bare foot wearing a smock style dress grins down at them, flicking her curls out of her eyes.

“Hello, everyone,” she says, one hand cradled at the bottom of her stomach while the other holds onto a fist full of necklaces as she sits on an armchair, still smiling at them. “Since I see a new shining face here, I figure that I should remind everyone that we’re here for the single mother’s group. Is that why you’re here?” She asks, addressing Louis.

“Um, yeah,” Louis mumbles, clearing her throat. “That’s why I’m here. Dr. Grimshaw recommended me.”

“Oh, Nick is great,” curly says. “He’s all of our doctors.”

“Really?” Louis says, watching as five heads nod. “Wow. Yeah, he didn’t mention that but it makes sense.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m Harry and I guess you could say I’m the unofficial leader of the group, since this is my house after all,” she says, grinning at her. Her smile is so wide, taking up a large portion of her face and her voice is slow and thick like honey, her words dripping out of her mouth carefully. “So why don’t you introduce yourself, tell us a bit more about you, about your pregnancy, whatever you’d like,” the woman says, motioning for Louis to talk.

“Right. I’m Louis,” she says, waving slightly before grabbing at the end of her braid, playing with it. “I’m not pregnant yet. Well, maybe. I just got inseminated a week ago, so it’s too early to know, but I’m trying. And um. I’m single, obviously. I own a beauty salon, the one on Fifth street, Fifth Street Salon, and so my professional life is really great, but there’s a lot missing, you know? And I feel like I can hear my biological clock ticking. Not like I’m old,” Louis clarifies; she’s only twenty-six, but still.

“I always wanted children younger so that way I could be a fun and energetic mom, like my mom was. So yeah, just trying to get pregnant with a bodiless sperm,” Louis jokes, swallowing her laugh when she realizes that no one is going to be laughing with her. Tough crowd.

She learns about everyone there, hears their stories and listens to their lives. Harry is three months pregnant, trying to decide if she wants to find out what she’s having. Her pregnancy started with a boyfriend who didn’t want anything to do with the baby. She shrugs it off, hands rubbing her barely swollen stomach, telling Louis that she’s happy to do it alone, if she has to.

Then there’s Daisy and Alexa, both of whom were inseminated like Louis was. And then there’s Caroline, a woman at least twenty years older than them that just adopted a baby boy, right after she got a divorce from her husband. And finally there is Laura, a tall blonde that, like Harry, was left by the man that impregnated her.

Louis listens to the rest of them tell their stories, feeling an easiness settle deep in the pit of her stomach, because despite the cinnamon apple vibe that Harry has going on, it’s nice to know that she’s not alone. It’s nice to know that she’s not the only one who wanted a family bad enough that they were willing to get a head start, willing to go at it alone. She’s makes a mental note to erase the strike she gave them earlier, erasing it to add a note that tells her to thank Nick for the recommendation.

>>>>

“So how much longer until we get to find out if you’re pregnant or not?” Niall asks, inspecting some red peppers.

“Another week, I think,” Louis says, bagging up some apples. She hands them over to the man and watches as he weighs them before she passes her money over to him. “I think two weeks is the earliest that you can find out, so hopefully I’ll know by next week.”

“Lou, grab me a couple of those zucchinis,” Niall instructs, throwing the peppers in the bag he brought and passing his money along to the tenant.

It’s one of the things Louis and Niall make an appoint to do at least once a month, go to the farmers market together and stock up on fruits and vegetables. The prices are cheaper and the food is better, so it works out, Louis thinks, following behind Niall as they stop at a tent filled with berries.

“One more week,” Niall finally says, like Louis’ words have just caught up with him. “What happens if it didn’t work?”

“We try again,” Louis tells him, shrugging as she pays for her strawberries and blueberries. “I don’t know how soon though, I bet the doctor will want to wait a little while.”

“How will you feel about waiting?”

Louis shrugs once more. “I don’t know. I guess if it’s necessary then I won’t mind. It’s not like he’s going to put it off for another year or two, so it’ll be fine.”

Niall nods, looping his arm through Louis’ and guiding her through the people. His skin is warm against Louis’, his already pinking under the warm May sun. They shift through the people, navigating their way through the crowds as they spend their money and fill up their bags.

Louis is inspecting some peaches when she feels Niall nudge her, trying his best to look subtle as he motions towards the other side of the tent. She turns slowly, eyebrows bunched together as she tries to figure out what Niall is looking at. She sees him and he most definitely sees her, eyes sparkling and mouth curving upwards when they make eye contact.

“Oh god,” Louis mumbles, turning back to look at Niall. “Oh god.”

“Hey, what are you doing here?” The man asks, sliding in next to her, his eyes wrinkled and mouth still pulled in a stupid grin.

“Getting fruit, obviously,” Louis says, adjusting her bag and flicking her hair off her shoulder, staring at him. “Like you are, I assume. Unless you’re here to steal them.”

Cab thief laughs, shaking his head at Louis. “Definitely not.”

“You two know each other?” Niall asks, looking between the two of them, amused.

“Yeah, he’s a cab thief,” Louis tells her best friend, shifting her weight onto the other hip. Her arms are beginning to ache, her bag weighed down by the abundance of food she’s just bought.

“I’m actually Liam,” he says, holding a hand out for Niall to shake. “I met—“

“Louis.”

Liam raises an eyebrow, nodding. “I met Louis earlier this week. We got into the same cab.”

“And then he threw me out onto the street,” she adds, watching as Niall grins. “I had to walk home in the rain wearing a dress and by the time I had gotten home my I was completely soaked through, stuck to my clothing.”

“I tried to give you the cab back,” Liam says reasonably and god, he’s going to be honest and noble about this in front of Louis’ friends. It’s revolting. Honestly. “You wouldn’t take it. You were being stubborn.”

“That sounds like Lou,” Niall pipes in and Louis swats at him, offended. If he’s going to pick a side to this argument then he better choose hers. 

“It does not,” she protests, glaring at both of their smiling faces. Niall looks smug and overly interested, like he’s trying to figure out who the good-looking stranger is. Liam just looks amused and Louis is worried the smile is going to get stuck onto his face if he doesn’t stop smiling soon. His puffy cheeks must be hurting. “Whatever,” she mumbles, turning back to buy some of her peaches. “It doesn’t change the fact that he stole my cab.”

“Well, you also stole mine, technically,” Liam says, buying his own plums. “I mean, if we are to objectively look at the situation.”

“That’s not how we’re going to look at anything,” she informs him, shoving the peaches into her bag. “And there is nothing objective about thievery, but how should you know that, you’re a thief.”

Liam just smiles at her in return and it’s so awful, so charming and so pretty and so annoying that he looks so happy to argue with her about this.

“I have to go,” Louis decides because she’s not going to stick around and be charmed by some pretty stranger. “Yeah, I have a thing. I need to take these home,” she pats her bag for emphasis, “I have to go.”

“Go where?” Niall asks, frowning. “I thought you said that you were just getting—“

“Getting out of here? Yes, I am,” she says. “So Niall, I’ll see you later. Um, it was lovely to see you again, Liam.” She smiles offering them both a wave before she turns to leave. She hears Liam fumble on words, swallowing them as she strides off.

>>>>

Louis flips through her magazine, content on waiting for Lou to finish with her next customer so that she can slip into the chair. She’s the boss, so she should be willing to do this on her own, and she is, but Louise promised that she would do it. And who is Louis to turn down a pedicure by someone else?

Lou gives her the five more minutes signal and she nods, sighing as she continues to flip through her magazine. She’s reading an article on how to get her stomach toned for the summer months when the bell above the door chimes and she glances up, eyes narrowing when she sees that it’s Liam.

“What are you doing here?” Louis asks, tossing the magazine down to look at him, arms folded over her chest. “Are you stalking me?”

“No, I come here all the time,” Liam tells her, glancing around. Louis rolls her eyes. She owns this place, if someone walks in then she knows about it, and she’s never seen Liam in here. She’d remember him, wearing his light wash jeans and plaid shirt, unbuttoned and exposing the tips of pectoral muscles and a patch of chest hair.

“So you always stop by and get a pedicure?”

Liam blinks, glancing around as if he’s just now taking in where they are. There’s a spa like station in the back with chairs lining both sides of the walls where people get their haircuts. He blinks once more, shaking it off. “Yeah. Um, yeah. All the time. I love getting pedicures,” he frowns and Louis is willing to bet that he doesn’t even know what they are. She can’t help but bite back a laugh, rolling her eyes. “I come here all the time to get a pedicure.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you really don't. This is my salon. I own it. You’ve never been here before.”

“Oh,” Liam mumbles, scratching the back of his neck. “Niall didn’t mention that.”

“You asked Niall where I was going?”

“No, he told me. I didn’t ask, I swear,” Liam says, holding his hands out, like if Louis can see his hands then she’ll know he’s not lying. “He said that I should show up. It was his idea, I swear. I didn’t want to, but well, I kind of did want to. But not because I’m a stalker.”

“Right,” Louis mumbles, looking back to see Lou finishing up with a client. She knows that Caroline is free as well, so she grins, motioning for Liam to wait one second as she strides across the salon, informing Caroline that they have walk-in for her. Caroline follows her to the front where Liam is standing, hands shoved in his pockets as he inspects a few bottles of shampoo. “This is Caroline,” Louis tells him, motioning towards the woman next to her. “She’ll be doing your pedicure.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, hi,” Liam says, cheeks bright pink as he steps forward, shaking Caroline’s hand. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admits and Louis smirks, nodding in satisfaction. Good.

Caroline smiles at him, telling him to follow her towards the back. Louis goes with them, watching as Liam glances around in confusion. He stops and stares down at the chair in front of him, taking in the tub of hot water at the end of it.

“Uh,” he mumbles, turning back to look at Caroline and Louis. “What’s that for?”

“For your feet, Liam. Take your shoes off,” Louis tells him, kicking off her sandals and jumping into her chair. She drops her feet in the tub, sighing when her feet hit the water. Liam is watching her, so she grins, batting her eyelashes at him and wiggling her toes under the water. “I thought you do this all the time?”

“Yeah. It’s just—Different,” he says, sitting down.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Caroline tells him, smiling. Louis winks at her, watching as Caroline bites back at smile. She’s the nicest person that the shop has to offer, so it amuses Louis endlessly that even she thinks Liam is funny.

Liam’s tugging off his socks when Louis turns back towards him, breathing out deeply as he folds them neatly and shoves them into his boots. He stares down at the water, biting down on his bottom lip like he’s trying to figure out if he really wants to do this. Louis watches, feeling giddy with excitement when Liam’s toes dip into the water.

“Okay, that’s really hot,” he says, tugging up his pant legs a little more. “Does that cool down? At all?”

Louis shakes her head, hair moving with it. “Nope.”

“Hey, love,” Lou says, dropping down on the stool in front of Louis. She motions with her eyebrows towards Liam, a silent question of who is he and why is he with you in her eyes. Louis shrugs, fingers drumming against the armrest.

“This is Liam,” she tells her, pointing over towards him. “He loves pedicures.”

“Oh really?” Lou says, arching an eyebrow at him.

Liam smiles bashfully, embarrassed and adorable. “Yeah. Um, apparently.”

“Relax, Liam. It’ll be fun,” she says, pulling her foot out of the water and handing it to Lou, letting her get to work. Liam’s eyes follow the movement, going wide when he sees Lou start to massage them before getting to work on her cuticles.

“Oh god,” Liam mutters, head dropping back on the headrest. Louis laughs a proper cackling sound as she watches Caroline grab his foot and get to work.

>>>>

“So you own that salon?” Liam asks, looking at Louis as they navigate their way down the sidewalk.

Louis nods, shrugging when Liam blows out an impressed whistle noise. “It’s only been mine for about a year, but so far it’s pretty successful, I think.”

“Seemed pretty busy in there today.”

“Yeah, it usually is on the weekends since everyone is off work.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“What about you? What’s your job?” Louis asks, even though she thinks she knows, since she saw Liam that one day at the construction site. Plus she feels a little right, since Liam wears work boots all the time.

“I work for the city,” Louis tells her, shrugging. “It’s not impressive or anything like that, not like owning my own place, but it’s alright.”

“What does working for the city mean?” 

“It means that, I don’t know, I do all kinds of things. I’ve put up those caution cones around the city, put in street signs and traffic lights. I’ve poured sidewalks and roads. Sometimes we cut grass at parks, stuff like that,” Liam admits, his cheeks heating up as he talks about it.

“Wow, I didn’t realize that-“

“But it’s not what I want to do forever,” Liam adds quickly, cutting Louis off. “It’s just a right now thing.” Louis nods, because she gets it. Everyone’s been there and done that before. It’s not like people stumble out of high school or college with a career at their disposal. Well, maybe some do, if they’re really lucky, but Louis gets it. She nudges Liam with her elbow, winking at him to let him that it’s not a big deal.

“Which way do you have to go?” Louis asks, stopping when they reach the corner.

“What do you mean?” Liam asks, glancing around, like he’s genuinely confused about what Louis is asking him.

“To get home, which way are you.”

“Oh,” Liam mumbles. “Well, see, the thing is, I was hoping to walk you home. Make sure you get there safely and everything. If that’s okay with you.”

Louis sighs, her eyes narrowing as she looks at him. Liam just blushes, smiling sheepishly.

“Alright big guy, let’s go,” she says, hooking her arm through his, holding onto his elbow. “We’ve got a lot of walking to do, so you better have interesting conversation planned.”

“I do,” Liam assures her, nodding. “See, I was thinking we could get to know each other. I want to know everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, all of it.”

“Alright, so what do you want to know?”

“How old are you?”

“26, you?”

“The same. Do you have any siblings?” Liam asks, letting Louis guide him in the direction of her place.

“A few, actually,” she mutters, laughing. “Five sisters and a brother.”

Liam frowns for a moment, counting it up in his head and Louis bites on her lip, refraining from telling him that it’s an easy six. “Wow, six siblings,” Liam says in amazement, shaking his head. “I’ve only got two sisters, both older.”

“Oh, so you’re the baby. I’m the oldest.”

“Yeah, you seem like the oldest,” Liam says and Louis doesn’t have a chance to ask what that means because Liam is asking her another question. “Your first kiss, what was that like?”

“Awful,” Louis answers honestly. “His name was Adrian Foster and he had the worst case of chapped lips I’d ever seen in my life, but I was fourteen and everyone thought he was cool, so I went for it. Wasn’t as great as I thought it was going to be. What about you?”

“Her name was Tatiana, I don’t remember her last name. She was a year older than me, so I was really scared and nervous and I missed her mouth the first time, ended up having to go in a second time and I cut my tongue on her braces.”

“You used tongue on your first kiss?” Louis cries out, staring at him in outrage.

“You didn’t?”

“No, he had chapped lips. I touched him, wiped my mouth off and ran off.”

True to his word, Liam asks her everything that he can think of. Her favorite color, if she has any pets, what her favorite animal is, what she likes to do when she’s not running a business. Liam asks her about what she wants for her future and Louis answers, making sure to answer truthfully to every question that he throws at her, until Louis feels like she knows Liam a little better then some of the other people in her life.

They’re outside of Louis’ place now, the two of them stopping at the bottom of her stairs to look at each other.

“Well, this is me,” Louis says, hooking her thumb over her shoulder. She can hear Bruce barking, his head shoved against the window watching them.

“One more question,” Liam says. “What about your best kiss?”

“My best kiss,” Louis repeats, sighing as she thinks. That’s a tough question, because she’s enjoyed a lot of kisses in her life but she doesn’t think of any of them as the very best. She doesn’t think it would be very exciting to say that her best kiss would be in the past anyway, no matter how great some of them have been. “I don’t know, that’s a hard one.”

Liam nods like he understands, his hands shoving into his pockets. “Well, I think that if I were to kiss you right now that I’d be your best kiss.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Liam smiles, shrugging when Louis raises an eyebrow at her. “I’ll see you later, Louis,” he says, pulling his hand out of his pocket to brush it across her arm. He spares her one last look and then he’s gone, turning around and heading back down the street, glancing at the time on his watch as he goes.

Louis breathes out, staring up at Bruce, checking to see if he saw all that happen too, just to make sure she didn’t make it up.

>>>>

“So Louis, care to tell us who that boy was that you brought in here the other day?” Caroline asks, dropping down on the seat next to Louis’ station. She’s working on a customer, but she knows Eleanor doesn’t mind, her eyes brightening when she hears mention of a boy.

“What boy?” She asks, trying to dig her hand out from under her gown so she can pinch Louis’ sides.

“Keep your head down,” Louis tells her, pushing it forward so she can finish trimming her ends. “He’s no one, just some guy that I met about a week ago.”

“He came in here to get a pedicure just to see her,” Caroline tells Eleanor, nodding seriously when Eleanor turns her head towards her to stare. “Yeah. He was cute too. Biceps to die for, actually.”

“Head down,” Louis instructs again.

“He came in here to see you?” Eleanor asks.

“Yeah, he was following her around like a proper puppy,” Louise supplies as she arrives back at her chair, draping over the back of it, hands resting on Caroline’s shoulders. “They left together.”

“Zayn says he walked her home,” Caroline adds.

Louis snips off the ends of Eleanor’s hair, glancing up to glare at her friends, most specifically Caroline. “I’m going to kill Zayn and his big mouth.”

“Oh don’t be hard on him,” she says, crossing her legs. “I brought Brook over to see him and he asked me what I knew about him, I asked why, and then he told me. That’s all.”

“Well, that’s all that happened,” Louis says, watching as her friends all share a look. “Stop. He’s nice, that’s all. And good looking, but that’s it. That’s all he’s got going for him.”

“So when are you going to see Mr. Nice-and-Good-Looking again?” Eleanor asks, allowing Louis to pump her chair up a little higher.

“I’m not,” she tells them, firm and confident. “I’m not seeing him ever again.”

>>>>

Liam picks her up at seven, standing on the stairs outside of her building with the sleeves of his button up rolled up and the top two buttons undone. He looks amazing, Louis notes, taking his hand as she steps down the stairs, mindful of the heels on her feet. It’s been ages since she’s worn any but being around Liam makes her feel tiny, almost too small. It sets her nerves on edge, so instead of trying to stand up a little straighter, she’s opted for heels, a pair that show off the long expanse of her legs. She’s wearing a dress, a rich burgundy color that complements the navy of Liam’s shirt.

They look good together, Louis thinks, swinging their hands back and forth between them.

“You look handsome,” Louis tells him, letting go of his hand but falling in step right next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

“And you look beautiful,” Liam tells her, slipping an arm around her waist as he guides her down the street.

Liam takes her to a restaurant a few miles over, one that they need a cab to get to. Louis has to bite her tongue the whole ride so she doesn’t make a comment about him being a no good cab thief, because only half of that statement is true. The no good part, obviously, because he is very much good and very much still a thief.

The restaurant is nice, dimly lit with candles and tiny lamps, with bouquets of roses on every table, larger ones stuffed in the corners and making the restaurant smell like flower petals. They sit outside, underneath a canopy of fairy lights and the setting sun. There are trees and flowers and a circular fireplace in the center that warms Louis’ skin as she passes.

“You’re trying to impress me,” Louis declares, grinning over the top of her menu. Liam blushes and Louis grin turns into a smirk, enjoying the fact that she has that affect on him.

Liam shrugs. “I come here all the time,” he says, taking a sip of his water.

“Yeah, just like how you get a pedicure all the time?”

Liam opens his mouth to reply, closing it quickly when he realizes that yeah, Louis is right, once again.

“It’s okay. I like it.” Liam relaxes at her words, smiling up at her before he dives back into his menu.

Everything sounds delicious, but Louis settles on pasta, wanting to get something that will fill her up and won’t make a mess on her dress. She’s never been the neatest eater, and of course it’s always worse when she looks nice, when she wants to look good.

“So, how is the salon going?” Liam asks, folding his hands across the top of the table.

“It’s good. Busy, but that’s the way I like it. If it slows down then I get anxious, so it’s doing really well,” Louis tells him, nodding. She wishes that she had ordered a glass of wine, something to take the edge off. Water isn’t helping at all. “How is the city doing?”

“It’s falling apart,” Liam tells her, sighing. “We spent the day filling in pot holes. Actually, next week we’re going to be down the street from the salon, fixing the one on the corner of Fifth and Market.”

“My hero,” Louis sings. “That’s been a nightmare. I have to listen to every client that comes in complain about it. You’re saving my life, honestly.”

“Well, that’s me, a regular superhero. Without the tights and cape.”

“Oh,” Louis mumbles, because there’s a thought. “You’d look amazing in a pair of tights, I’d bet.”

Liam laughs, shaking his head. “No. I wouldn’t. I definitely wouldn’t.”

“No, you would. I know these things, Liam, trust me.”

“Alright, I trust you,” Liam says, earnest and sure and setting off a flutter in Louis’ stomach.

“Good. But tell me, Superman, what is it that you want to do when you’re finished saving the world? When you’ve fixed the city and made it all pretty again?”

“Um, nothing exciting,” Liam mutters quietly, shifting around in his seat. “But, I’ve always wanted to be a personal trainer. It’s kind of silly, but I like the idea of helping people be better thems, or whatever their reason for seeking out a trainer would be. I think it would be nice, helping them reach their goals.”

“You’re all about helping people, aren’t you, Liam?”

Liam shrugs. “I guess, I don’t know. I just know that I like working out and spending time in the gym. It’s not my life, but I know that I probably won’t ever be a true sports therapist, so I think the next step is being a personal trainer.”

“Hey, you don’t know that,” Louis protests, offended that Liam thinks he can’t do something, that he can’t achieve whatever dream he has inside his head.

“Don’t know what?” Liam asks, confused.

“That you can’t be a sports therapist. You could, if you worked hard for it.”

“Yeah, but,” Liam shrugs, sighing. “I’ll be happy doing personal training. I’m happy now, cutting grass at the park.”

“It doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it, Liam?”

“No, not around you it doesn’t,” Liam says, sincere and honest and it makes Louis’ cheeks heat up, making it look like she applied too much blush when she was doing her make up.

“Stop,” Louis whines, lifting up her glass of water and staring at the liquid inside of it. She can see that Liam is smirking at her, proud of himself for making her blush for once. But she can’t help it, why would he say something like that? “You can’t say things like that.”

“Yes I can.”

“No you can't.”

“Alright, I can’t,” he agrees, easily enough and Louis looks up at him, glaring. She sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs, watching her with his smile written in his eyes.

“And you can’t look at me like that either.”

“Like what?” He asks, tilting his head to the side.

“All happy like.”

“You make me happy,” he tells her, shrugging unapologetically. “I like it. I like you, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Louis breathes out, unable to deny Liam that, not when he’s so kind and so gentle and so Liam that it makes Louis’ teeth ache, everything inside of her wants to reach out for him, wants to grab onto him and hold him close, possibly never let go.

Liam must have the same idea, because he takes a deep breath, standing up from his chair and leaning across the table. Louis knows what he wants, what he’s asking her with his eyes. She meets him halfway, her eyes falling shut as Liam’s lips meet hers. He keeps the pressure light, fingers cupping her jaw as his mouth moves against hers slowly, soft and sure.

He pulls away and Louis blinks open, staring at him with wide eyes. It’s not her best kiss, but it’s definitely one of her favorites, so she thinks that counts for something.

>>>>

Louis reads the instructions carefully, gripping onto the plastic in one hand and the box in the other. Bruce is with her, giving her emotional support as she rips the packaging off the plastic. Five seconds, that’s all she need, no more and no less. Definitely that hard, she thinks, holding the stick between her legs.

When she’s finished she sets the pregnancy test down on the counter, a strip of toilet paper underneath.

“Three minutes until we find out, Bruce,” she says, breathing out harshly. “Holy shit.”

She turns, patting her thigh so that Bruce knows to follow. It’s the worst thing in the world not being able to drink, not wanting to harm whatever might be growing inside of her, because she could really use something to take the edge off. Her nerves are on fire and she feels like she might combust, like every cell in her body is waiting to spew out.

It wasn’t until after Liam dropped her off that Louis knew what she had to do, knew that it was time to find out if the insemination worked and if she had a little baby growing inside of her. And it’s all Liam’s fault, really, because Louis forgot, for a moment, that she was working towards a life of her own, working towards creating a family without anyone else, just her and baby.

But Liam, well, he’s great and Louis worries about how he’s going to handle this, how he’ll process the information if it worked. And if doesn’t, well, it’s not like she’s going to tell him. Louis doesn’t know what she’s going to do. She doesn’t want to put it off, she wants this, wants a baby. But she doesn’t want to scare Liam off either, because it’s there, this thing. This thing brewing between them that Louis thinks might be something special, might be something amazing if they worked for it.

Louis doesn’t want to screw anything up.

She glances at the clock and sees that three minutes has passed and she releases a deep breath, staring down at Bruce. “A plus sign means we’re having a baby. A minus sign means we’re not. Do you want to check for me?”

Bruce tilts his head to the side, staring up at her.

“Okay, you’re right. I can do it,” she says, biting her lip as she walks back towards the bathroom. Her hands are shaking as she reaches out for the plastic and when she glances down, there it is-

A pink plus sign.

She’s pregnant.

“Oh my god,” Louis breathes out, staring down at it. It’s clear, not a line too faint for her to convince herself that she should take another. It’s there, clear as day. She’s having a baby. There’s a baby inside of her. Louis’ hands subconsciously go to her stomach, rubbing at the fabric of her shirt. You can’t tell on the outside, everything about her looks exactly the same. And if it weren’t for that pink plus sign, Louis would think that nothing was happening to her.

“Oh my god,” she repeats once more, turning to look at Bruce. “This isn’t good. This is not good. No, it’s good. This is amazing, but it’s bad.”

She sets the test back down on the counter so that she can pace, moving back and forth across the small space of her bathroom.

“I want this. I want this more than anything, but the doctor was certain that we’d have to try again. He was completely sure of that. I thought I’d have more time, you know? But it’s not the end of the world,” she rambles off, words coming out quickly. “But what about Liam? This isn’t good. Everything is going to be ruined.”

Bruce looks at her, watching her for a moment before he turns to leave, grabbing his bone before he jumps up on the couch, curling into a ball so he can chew on it.

“Right, okay. That’s fine,” she breathes out. Maybe this conversation will work out better with a human, and when she can get her mind wrapped around the fact that there is a baby inside of her. A tiny little fetus probably only the size of a peanut, if she had to guess.

>>>>

Zayn’s mouth drops open when she tells him, his eyes going wide. “This is good, right,” he says, studying Louis carefully as he tries to figure out how he’s supposed to react. Louis nods her head and he grins, jumping up to wrap his arms around her. “Then I’m really happy for you, honestly.”

“Thanks,” Louis mumbles, pressing her face into his neck. She breathes him in, letting his scent overwhelm her sense. “But I have a problem.”

“What’s the matter?” Zayn asks, pulling back to look at her. His eyebrows are knitted together, concern written across his face.

“It’s Liam.”

“What did he do?” Zayn asks, his eyes flashing with something fierce. Louis knows that Zayn would hurt Liam, if he ever did anything to truly hurt her. Louis laughs at the sentiment, patting his cheek lightly.

“I need to figure out how to end things with him.”

“What? Why?”

Louis shrugs. “I’m pregnant.”

“Okay,” Zayn says slowly, nodding like he’s trying to figure out where the problem is, like he truly doesn’t understand what Louis means by her last two statements. “Did he do something wrong?”

“No, but I just figure it’ll be easier this way, right? End it before things can get serious, end it before I get attached and he leaves because I’m carrying some random stranger’s child.”

“Were you not just babbling to me the other day about how amazing he is?” Louis turns to glare at him, her eyes narrowed as he looks at her. “I’ll take that as a yeah, you remember.”

“He is great. Liam is wonderful,” Louis says carefully, because he is. He’s nice and gentle and caring and smart and he loves helping people, he wants to help people and he’s strong and he’s everything that Louis could possibly want, wrapped in a pretty package, complete with biceps galore. “But I’m pregnant.”

“So?” Zayn says, pulling a face that mimics the sentiment. “You act like pregnancy means you can never date again. That’s not what it means, at all. You should know that.”

“I do know that, but it’s not like I didn’t know this could happen when he asked me out. I knew and I didn’t say anything.”

“What were you supposed to say? I _might_ be pregnant?” Zayn asks, shaking his head, a look of annoyance flashing across his face. “Come on, no one would have said that to anyone. You included. All you can do is tell him now.”

“So he can leave first?”

“If that’s what he wants to do,” Zayn says, shrugging. “If he doesn’t want to date you because you’re going to have kids then he’s a dick and you’re better off without him, or whatever. But that’s his choice. But he might be cool about it and understanding that everyone comes with a little baggage, so he might surprise you.”

Louis nods, wetting her lips, frowning when she remembers that she put on lip gloss this morning. God, that’s why she never uses the stuff, it tastes awful. “Liam asked me if I wanted to get away next weekend,” Louis says, remembering the conversation that had right before he kissed her outside her front door. “He said he was originally going alone, just a weekend to get away from stress, and he asked me if I wanted to join him.”

“What’d you say?”

“I said yes.”

“Well, he must be an alright guy if you’re going out of town with him so soon,” Zayn says, sitting down on his couch. “Ask him this weekend. If it doesn’t turn out for the best then at least he has a few days to get his head together, same for you.”

“Yeah, okay,” Louis mumbles, because it sounds like a good idea, at least right now it does. She’s not sure how she’ll feel about it later, but she can cross the bridge when she gets there. For now though, she huffs, dropping down on the couch next to Zayn, swinging her legs over his lap. “Turn on a movie,” she tells him, cuddling into his side.

>>>>

“What do you think?” Liam asks, elbows resting on the door of Louis’ car, leaning in and grinning at her. “It’s beautiful, right?”

“It’s tiny,” Louis says, staring at the small cabin in front of her car. It must only be big enough for the absolute essentials, a couch, a kitchen, a bed, and a bathroom. It’s cozy looking, though, tucked between two trees with a wrap around porch and a beautiful wooden surface. “But yeah, it’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” Liam says, smiling before he leans forward and kisses her. “And I see that you brought someone.”

“Yeah,” Louis says, reaching around to scratch at Bruce’s chin, his face shoved between the door and the seat, trying to get to Liam. “This is Bruce, my boyfriend.”

“Ah, my competition,” Liam says, stepping away from Louis’ door to open the back, letting Bruce out and grabbing her bags. Bruce bounds out of the car, running around and shove his face in a bush, sniffing around. “I brought him a friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah.” Liam points towards the porch, where a tiny white and black dog is sitting, whining at them. Louis hadn’t seen it before, must have overlooked him when she was scanning the cabin and taking it all in. “That’s Loki.”

“Loki? You named your dog after a villain?” Louis asks as Liam opens her door, helping her out of the car. “That’s awful. Does it mean he’s mean?”

“No, he’s sweet. And Loki wasn’t that bad of a villain.” Louis raises an eyebrow at him, because she does remember Loki trying to take over Earth and trying to kill his father and lying to his brother to keep him in exile. That’s all pretty awful. “Okay, he was bad, but he was likeable.”

“Much better answer, Liam,” Louis says, grinning as she strides towards the cabin, bending down to scratch behind Loki’s ears. He licks wildly at her hands, little body shaking in excitement as she pets him. She pats him on the head one last time before she stands up straight, rubbing her hands on her jeans as she steps through the threshold of the house.

It’s bigger than she expected, with a dining area straight to her left and the living room to the right. There’s a tv in the corner, with a couch directly opposite that looks cozy and worn. Then there’s the kitchen, definitely small but manageable, she thinks. She spins slowly, taking in the cabin, nodding in approval.

“I come here every couple months,” Liam tells her, setting her bag down next to the door. “It’s nice to just get away sometimes, forget about work and responsibilities, just hang out with my dog in the woods for a while.”

“You look like a lumberjack,” Louis tells him, taking in Liam’s red plaid shirt and worn in jeans. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, revealing four chevron tattoos along his arm. Louis’ seen them before, but she’s never actually paid them much attention, at least not like she is now.

“Is that a compliment?”

“Sexiest lumberjack I know,” she tells him, nodding in approval.

“Guess it is.”

“Of course it is,” she says, walking past him. She grabs his hand on the way out, slamming the cabin door shut. She’s glad that she wore a pair of running shoes, because she wants to explore, wants to see the area that Liam runs away to when he needs an escape from his life. She wants to see this little treasure that Liam is sharing with her.

So that’s what they do. Liam walks her down to the little creek with the crystal clear water and red rocks on the bottom. They walk along the edge of it, Loki and Bruce running through it, chasing after each other. Or well, Bruce is running, poor Loki has to swim his way through the water.

They spend hours outside, until the sun starts to set and Louis begins to worry about what kind of animals might be coming out, animals that could hurt her dog.

Then Liam cooks her dinner, showing off his skills in the kitchen with full commentary, providing her with endless entertainment. It’s a nice meal, smoked salmon with all the vegetables that Louis could wish for. Liam even surprises her with dessert, pulling ice cream out of the freezer with a sheepish grin.

It’s a nice evening and Louis is happy that she agreed to come along, too soon or not. Liam makes her laugh, makes her stomach twist in delight whenever he looks at her. But that’s not the only way her body reacts to him, with his fingers running along the inseam of her jeans as they watch television. Louis thinks it’s a subconscious gesture, just because her legs are thrown over his lap, and not him actively trying to start anything.

But there’s a twisting curl deep in her gut, right below her navel that her eyes glued on his hands instead of the television. His fingers are long and thick, easily wrapping around the girth of her thigh.

“Liam,” Louis breathes out, when the heat of her stomach is too much to take. He glances towards her, eyes wide, completely unaware of what he’s doing to her. “Liam,” she repeats, sitting up proper so that she can straddle his lap, watching as his hand shifts from the inside of her thighs to her waist, holding onto her.

“Louis,” Liam says finally, staring up at her. Louis kind of likes the height advantage, likes that it’s Liam who has to tip forward to kiss her, his neck strained for a change as their mouths move together.

Liam is an excellent kisser, probably the best kisser, which annoys Louis endlessly that Liam was right, that he could possibly be her best kiss to date. But it’s just so good, feeling as he drags his hands over her body, mindful to not touch all the places that she wishes he would. She can feel herself getting wet as his cock begins to harden beneath her and she’s not ashamed when she grinds down, chasing the feeling of it.

Liam moans, nipping at her bottom lip as his grip tightens on her hips. “Louis,” he breathes out, pulling away to look at her. Louis takes the opportunity to plant kisses along his neck, sucking at his birthmark. “Louis, what are we doing?”

Louis licks a stripe up his neck, biting down just below his ear. She blindly grabs for his hand, guiding it to the zip of her jeans and trying to get him on the same page as her. Luckily Liam’s a quick learner, because he makes quick work of her fly, his fingers dipping into her panties, thumb rubbing against her clit.

“Oh,” Louis mumbles, rocking her hips against the pressure of his fingers.

It turns out that Liam is good at many things, not only with his tongue but with his fingers. He wastes no time, shifting them around so that Louis is under him, his fingers slipping inside of her effortlessly as another continues to rub at her clit.

Liam’s grinning down at her, one hand in her panties and the other brushing the hair out of her eyes. It should be impossible that he can be so gentle with her and at the same time make her stomach coil in pleasure. Liam is something else and Louis wants to find out exactly how much more he is.

“More,” Louis tells him, rocking her hips up again, yanking him down for a kiss. It’s teeth and tongue and she shivers into it, back arching off the couch as Liam continues, curling his fingers up inside her.

Louis wants to know what else his mouth can do, how that tongue works in other places but there’s no time for that, because Louis is teetering on the edge and she refuses to come when he’s not buried deep inside of her.

Liam doesn’t take the hint, so Louis has to grab his wrist and she’s never seen anyone stop so quickly in her life. Liam pulls his fingers out of her quickly, staring at her wide eyes, scared that he crossed some kind of line.

“Are you okay?” Liam asks, wiping his fingers off on his jeans. “I’m sorry.”

“No, god. No. I’m fine,” she tells him, sitting up to kiss the wrinkle on his forehead. “Want you to fuck me and not on this couch.”

Liam relaxes, standing up and grabbing Louis’ hand, guiding her towards the bedroom. They have to kick Bruce and Loki off the bed, shoving them out of the bedroom. Louis lets him do all the work while she takes off her shirt, unhooking her bra and tossing it across the room. Her breasts ache, sore when her arms graze the sides.

When Liam turns around he looks surprised for a moment, staring at Louis until she steps forward, helping him out of his jeans and then his shirt. Seeing Liam naked is marvelous, it makes her want to write in to the government and ask them to pass a law that bans Liam Payne from ever wearing anything again. He should be naked all the time.

It’s beautiful and Louis’ body aches with how badly she wants to touch him, wants to lick every inch of toned muscle, wants to feel him with her mouth as he comes.

But she can wait.

Liam helps her out of her jeans and panties, tossing them across the room before he picks her up, dropping her down on the bed and crawling over him. All Louis can think is yes, please. Please.

Liam has a condom in hand and Louis’ raises an eyebrow, watching as he rips the package open and rolls it onto his hard cock, giving himself a few strokes before he does so.

“Liam, did you plan this?” Louis asks, leaning back against the headboard, legs spread open wide, waiting.

“No,” Liam tells her, smiling as he crawls forward. “Was hoping for it, but definitely didn’t plan it.”

“You wanted to corrupt me.”

“I don’t think anyone could corrupt you, Louis,” Liam tells her, grabbing onto her hips and dragging her down. “Think you might be corrupting me, though.”

Louis grins, because she likes the sound of that.

“You still sure about this?” Liam asks, staring down at Louis carefully, trying to gauge for any hesitance in Louis’ eyes. The only thing he gets is an eye roll; right before Louis grabs him by the back of the neck, pulling him down to kiss her.

The kiss seems to do the trick, because she feels as Liam’s dick rubs against her clit, right before he presses inside of her. And oh god. Louis can’t help but sigh into the kiss, fingers gripping his hair because all she can taste is Liam, all she can feel is Liam, everything is Liam and Louis can’t believe it, can’t believe that she’s here.

It’s so fucking good, the feeling of his cock inside of her, moving with the movement of his hips as he tries to find the right pace, tries to find the right angle. Everything is right, but Louis doesn’t tell him that, she wants him to work for it.

Liam breaks the kiss to press mouth to her breasts, kissing against the tender skin. Louis moans at the feeling, because her breasts have never been sensitive before, her body has never reacted quite so well to the feel of a tongue lapping at her nipple, but Louis wants more, wants Liam to snap his hips harder.

But this is Liam above her, so even though he’s fucking into her hard and fast, he keeps checking to make sure she’s okay, glancing up at her and pressing kisses against her skin, thumb working over her clit.

Louis comes with a jolt, with barely any warning from her body besides her toes curling and fingers tightening in his hair as her vision goes white, mouth dropping open. She feels Liam breathe out, like he’s relieved that Louis came first, like that’s what he wanted, to feel her tightening around him before he let’s go, grunting into Louis’ shoulder and coming, hips faltering.

Louis whispers encouragement in his hear, fingers stroking his back as she tells him how good he was, how amazing he feels inside of her, cock thick and heavy, stretching her open and making her feel so much. She grins when Liam shudders, body jerking through the after shocks because of her words.

It’s not until Liam’s pulling the condom off that Louis remembers she’s pregnant. It’s not until that moment that she remembers she was supposed to tell him about that, supposed to let him decide if he still wants anything to do with her after that. She feels a bit sick, like she took advantage him, like he might think she planned this, having sex with him so she can pin the baby on him or something, or so she can force him to stay.

That doesn’t sound like Liam, but it makes Louis nauseous all the same, like she could have her first case of morning sickness right here, right after he pulled out of her. Wouldn't that just be wonderful?

Guilt is creeping through Louis’ veins and she’s never been very good at being able to bite her tongue or fully understand how she’s supposed to appropriately react in high stress situations, so of course that means she blurts out, “I’m pregnant.”

Liam stills, glancing up at her in confusion. “Um, I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly sure that’s not how pregnancy works,” Liam says, leaning over the bed to drop the condom in the trash. “I think we kind of prevented that, or we tried to. And it doesn’t happen so quickly, I don’t think, right?”

“No. Or well, yeah, we were safe and did all the right things, but I was pregnant before we had sex,” Louis clarifies, wanting to throw her hands over her face and hide away from him.

He stares down at her, eyes flicking from her face and down to her stomach. Louis grabs the sheet, remembering that she’s naked and pulls it up to her chest, covering herself.

“You’re pregnant?” Louis nods. “With whose baby?”

Louis shrugs. “Number 3829,” she recites, embarrassed that she doesn’t have a name.

“Louis, what are you talking about?” Liam asks, grabbing a bit of the blanket to cover himself as well. Louis blinks, feeling the nausea worsen.

“The day we met, I was inseminated, like, my doctor put thawed sperm in my body. I don’t think it was frozen anymore, I forgot to ask. So maybe he put frozen sperm in my body, I’m not sure.”

“You paid to get pregnant,” Liam says and it’s not phrased like a question, not like it should be, and it almost feels like an insult, like he can’t believe anyone in their right mind would do something like that. “So you knew that you were pregnant and then you had sex with me, why?”

Louis shrugs, bunching up the sheets in her hand. “I wanted to,” she says. It’s the truth. There’s no philosophical answer. She likes Liam, she wants to be with Liam, in every way that she can. She’s just dumb and forgot to tell him something important. That’s all. “I like you.”

“You’re having someone else’s baby.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“Like what? Like it’s not true?”

“Like it’s a bad thing. Like I should be ashamed of myself or something,” she mumbles, staring down at the bed instead of at him.

“Well the fuck do you want me to do, Louis?” Liam cries out, running his fingers through his hair. “You just had sex with me and then you tell me you’re pregnant and now you’re telling me that you like me? What am I supposed to do about that?”

“I don’t know.” Louis shrugs, glancing up at Liam, flinching when she sees the fire in his eyes. “I wouldn't have done it if we were together. I would have—I don’t know what I would have done, but I didn’t know you and I was alone and I wanted a baby. Why are you mad at me?”

“Louis, you had sex with me and then you tell me that you’re pregnant. Do you not understand how fucked up that is?” Liam says, his voice slow and it sends shivers down Louis’ spine. She blinks, feeling her eyes prickle, like she’s about to cry.

“I’m sorry.”

Liam nods, standing up. He doesn’t bother to hide anything, just walks towards the door. He stops halfway there, looking over his shoulder to say, “Congratulations on the baby, Lou.”

“Liam,” Louis says, watching as he closes the door, effectively shutting her out. Louis breathes out harshly, lying on her back and wishing that she had done this differently, that she hadn’t forgotten about a major detail in her life. She rolls onto her side, pulling the blankets up to her chin and wishing that she were back at home.

>>>>

Louis doesn’t stay at the cabin long after that. She can’t sleep and she’s alone and she feels awful, this wave of guilt and nausea coursing through her blood as she lies in Liam’s bed.

Liam’s asleep on the couch when Louis sneaks out, sheets wrapped tight around her body as she grabs her bag and sneaks out to her car. She changes in the drivers seat, slipping on her pajamas before she starts her car, backing away from the cabin. Liam doesn’t wake up, or at least he doesn’t come running after her, so Louis thinks that he probably doesn’t mind that she’s leaving.

Louis doesn’t call Zayn to tell him that she’s coming over, just crawls out of her car, barefoot and wearing a pair of plaid pajamas and a shirt that used to be Niall’s. She bangs on his door, happy that he lives in the garden apartment and she doesn’t have to ring his buzzer, but that she can access it from the street.

Zayn swings the door open, hair disheveled and eyes unfocused as he looks at Louis. He immediately frowns, probably because she’s frowning as well, chest heaving a bit as she looks at him, silently begging to be let inside. Zayn grabs her by the wrist and pulls her inside, holding onto her tightly.

“What happened?” He asks, rubbing circles into her back, walking them backwards towards his bedroom. “Why aren’t you with Liam, Lou?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Louis mumbles into his shoulder, releasing a shaky breath. It’s the stupid pregnancy hormones, they’re making her sad and whiney and she just wants to curl up into a ball and cry, maybe force Zayn to play with her hair as she soaks his pillow with her tears. It has to be the baby that’s doing this, because she doesn’t care.

This is what she wanted. She wanted the baby and she still does, but she didn’t want this. She didn’t ask for Liam. That wasn't part of her plan. She had everything mapped out, all of it, but not Liam, and he’s ruining the things that she did have planned.

Zayn let’s go of her to pull the blankets back, helping Louis get into his bed before he crawls in behind her, arms wrapping around her as he holds her close.

Zayn is one of the world’s best cuddlers, he knows when Louis needs a tight grip and when she needs to be comforted but to also feel like she’s alone, so she can pout into his pillowcase, thinking about the betrayed look on Liam’s face.

She didn’t do anything wrong and she refuses to feel bad about it, which is why she chalks this whole thing off as hormones, nothing more than a pregnant woman being emotional, typical cliché she is. And while she’s blaming the hormones, she does her best to go to sleep; the image of Liam imprinted on the back of her eyelids makes it hard, though.

>>>>

Louis is tired, so tired that her bones feel heavy as she navigates her way down her street. She’s almost home, having to park two blocks over since her street was packed. She’s so tired and she can’t wait to get inside, to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of her weekend away. She needs to call Dr. Grimshaw’s office before she can do any of that, to tell him the good news and schedule her first appointment. There might be something else she needs to do, but she’s not sure. There’s been a nagging at the back of her mind, something telling her that she’s forgetting something, but she can’t figure out what it could be.

Louis apartment is just around the corner and her entire body feels like it’s seizing up, her nerves electrified when she sees Liam sitting on her steps, glancing around. He jumps up when he sees her, smoothing out his jeans. She’s tempted to turn around and run, but that’s her house and she wants to go home, she wants to sleep.

Heaving a sigh, Louis walks on, gripping the strap of her bag as she goes, Liam’s eyes on her the entire time. She stops at the bottom of the stairs, blinking up at Liam, waiting for him to speak.

“You forgot Bruce,” Liam says, holding out a leash towards her. Louis jumps at that. Fuck. That’s what she’s been forgetting.

“Oh my god, Bruce, I’m so sorry,” she mutters kneeling to scratch behind his ears. “Oh god, I can’t believe I did that. Shit. Thank you for bringing him back.” She thinks she would have remembered eventually, when her mind was less occupied with Liam. Hopefully she would have remembered when she stepped inside and no one was there to greet her.

“Why did you leave?” Liam asks, watching her intently. “I woke up this morning and I was scared something had happened.”

“I thought it would be easier,” she answers, shrugging. “I didn’t want to ruin your weekend anymore than I already did, but I didn’t think I’d be stupid enough to forget my dog. Some mother I’ll be, huh.”

“You’ll be an amazing mother.”

“You hardly know me,” Louis tells him, looking at him through her lashes, shrugging.

“I know enough,” he says, stepping forward. He eases Louis’ bag off her shoulder, tossing it over his own before he bends down to pick Loki up, holding onto him. “And that’s what this weekend was for, anyway, to get to know each other better. That’s what I wanted, anyway. That’s what I was hoping to do.”

“And then I ruined it.”

“No, I think I did that on my own.”

Louis shakes her head. “I should have told you before…” She waves her hand around, hoping he’ll know what she’s talking about. “I wanted to, but you’re distracting. I thought about it the entire car ride, but then I saw you and I—I forgot. And you reacted, as anyone should and would. I screwed up,” Louis says, shrugging. She’s tempted to let Liam have her bag, because she just wants to go inside. “It’s all my fault.”

“No,” Liam says firmly, startling Louis. “I was shocked. I mean, Louis, you told me right after we had sex.”

“I’m sorry, I got distracted,” she whines, because doesn’t he understand? He sees himself everyday in the mirror, he should know what she’s talking about. “I didn’t want you to think that this was because of you, so I told you before I could really think about it. Poor mouth to brain filter, I guess.”

“It’s okay,” Liam tells her, reaching out to touch her arm gently. “I was just shocked, you dropped a bomb that I definitely didn’t expect. And yeah, you should have found a better time then what you did, but it’s over. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she mumbles, because she thinks that she would have exploded in the same way if the roles were reversed. She thought about it all night, what it would be like if Liam had sprung a pregnancy on her in the way that she did. So yeah, she gets it, why he reacted the way he did. She’s not mad at him, mostly at herself. One of Louis' best qualities is ruining a good thing, she thinks. “I feel like a liar.”

Liam looks at her, biting down on his bottom lip for a moment before he sighs. “I’m still in school.”

“You’re what?”

“I’m in college. Remember how I told you that I wanted to be a personal trainer?”

“Yeah,” Louis mutters, nodding slowly.

“I’m in school for that. I take night classes,” Liam says, shrugging. “I’m a liar too.”

Louis rolls her eyes. “That’s hardly lying, Liam. It’s omitting. You’re an omitter.”

“And that’s what you are,” Liam says and Louis raises an eyebrow. “I omitted the truth about myself when I told you what I wanted to do outside of working for the city. I could have easily told you then, but I didn’t, because I was embarrassed. And it’s just like how you didn’t tell me that you were pregnant. You omitted that from me, so why is yours worse than mine?”

“I have a baby, Liam, inside of me. That’s not the same as trying to get a degree.”

“Yeah, well,” Liam mutters, shrugging. “We’re both still omitters.”

“Not anymore,” Louis says because now it’s all out on the table, or at least for Louis it is, and she can’t imagine Liam being a man of many secrets so this is it, this is all they have to offer. 

“You want to go inside?” Liam asks, motioning behind him. “You look exhausted.”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, tugging on Bruce’s leash and walking up the stairs, stopping only when Liam kisses her, a grin on her lips when he does it.

>>>>

Her first doctor’s appointment isn’t for another month, the two-month mark of her pregnancy, according to her doctor. Liam’s there with her, glancing around the room, taking everything in. He stares at the stirrups horrified, his fingers toying with the neon green socks that someone put on them, making them cooler on Louis’ feet when she needs to use them, when Nick tells her to do so.

“You don’t have to be here,” Louis tells him, watching as he tries not to look at the diagrams and tiny sculptures of the vagina. He’s trying very hard, bless him, his eyes staring intently at Louis and avoiding looking at anything else. Louis is naked from the waist down, covered in nothing but a thin sheet of paper that’s supposed to be like a blanket, she thinks.

“No, I want to be here,” he says, smiling at her. “There’s just a lot of—“

“Vaginas,” comes Dr. Grimshaw’s voice and Louis laughs, watching Liam’s face.

“Yeah, those,” Liam mumbles. Louis grabs his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“How are you doing, Louis?” The doctor asks, plopping down on a stool and scooting closer to Louis. “Any morning sickness yet?”

“No,” Louis tells him, shaking his head. “I really haven’t had any problems, I don’t think. A little bit of nausea sometimes, but I think that’s it.”

“You were complaining about your, um,” Liam says, motioning towards her chest.

“Right, yeah. My boobs are crazy tender lately, but we read that’s normal, right?”

“Perfectly normal for your ums to be tender, yes,” he says, winking at Louis at Liam’s expense.“And if the nausea gets bad call us, alright? We can prescribe something for that, especially if morning sickness starts to accompany it.”

“Is that only in the morning?” Liam asks.

“No, it can occur at any time, actually.”

“That’s misleading,” Liam mumbles, biting down on his bottom lip. He looks like he’s saving this all to memory. “But I guess it makes sense.”

Louis squeezes his hand again, smiling softly at him.

“And Louis, you haven’t had any troubles with those prenatal vitamins we put you on, correct?” Louis nods, because she really hasn’t felt much of anything since she found out she was pregnant. And the things she has felt she already told him about, but it’s nothing from the vitamins. It’s kind of a silly question, Louis thinks, but she’s not going to say anything, because Nick might be testing her and she doesn’t want to fail.

He goes on to ask her about her medical history, information she gave him when they were planning the insemination. He asks her everything; even the fine details that Louis thinks wouldn’t matter. Liam’s there the entire time, holding onto Louis’ hand and nodding along, like he needed to hear this information as well, like her grandfather dying from heart disease is of the upmost importance to him.

She’s already done the blood work, the nurse taking care of it before he came in, and now all she has to do is get through the physical exam.

“So I guess you’ve already tried calculating your due date,” Dr. Grimshaw says, snapping on his gloves. Louis shakes her head. “You haven’t? Wow, I was sure that you would have.”

“You can figure that out?” Liam asks.

Grimshaw rolls his eyes. “Of course I can,” he says. “Feet up, Louis, and slide down until your butt hits the end of this, just like we’ve done before.”

“Feet up?” Liam repeats, glancing around. “Feet up?” Louis laughs, sliding down like Nick told her to, her feet in the stirrups. “Oh my god,” Liam mutters. “Should I leave?”

“If you want,” Louis tells him, glancing up at him. Focusing on Liam takes her attention away from the doctor, away from whatever he’s doing down there, the same thing she’s gotten done once a year since she was seventeen.

“Do you want me to go?” Louis shakes her head, causing the paper beneath her to crinkle. “Alright. Then I’m staying. But I—what’s that?”

Louis turns, seeing that Nick has a long white stick like thing in his hand. She knows that is and what it does, how it’s the only way they can see the baby this early in the pregnancy.

“You’re not going to—“ Nick only smiles at him, disappearing once more between Louis’ legs. “Oh he is.”

“I just want to take a peek at the baby,” Nick says, holding the wand inside of Louis as he presses a button on the machine next to them. “Since you conceived from frozen sperm, I just want to make sure that everything looks good in there, that we don’t have anything going on.”

“What could be wrong?” Liam asks.

“Well, hopefully nothing,” Dr. Grimshaw says. “But that’s what this is for, precautions. We’re just being sure.”

“Okay,” Liam mutters, nodding.

Louis looks up at him, smiling while the doctor fiddles with more buttons, wiggling the wand around inside of her, trying to find the right spot to see the baby. Louis can feel her pregnancy hormones trying to take over because she’s so happy and so grateful, overcome with emotion with for Liam. His eyebrows are knitted together, staring at the screen while Louis watches him, until a static pumping fills the room and then her eyes snap over, staring at the monitor.

There’s no image on the screen that Louis can recognize but Nick is nodding, shifting the wand around slowly. The noise is fast and loud, like an oncoming train, assaulting Louis from every direction. It’s overwhelming and her breath catches in her throat, her hand tightening around Liam’s. That’s her, baby. She can hear him.

“Is that the heartbeat?” Liam asks, staring at the monitor with wide eyes. “Is that the baby?”

“Yeah,” Dr. Grimshaw mutters. “Except-“

“Except what?” Louis asks, her eyes abandoning the screen to stare at Nick. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, everything looks great, nice and settled in your uterus, just like we like. And all of your organs look good, ovaries look marvelous, honestly, you’re perfectly healthy. It’s a beautiful environment for a baby. The only thing is-“

“What is it?” Liam asks, cutting Nick off.

“Well, here is baby number one.”

“Number one?”

“And here is number two,” Nick says, shifting the wand just a bit to point out to show two tiny little dots on the screen. Louis blinks, staring at them. Two. He said two babies. There are two of them.

“Did you say two?” Liam asks and Louis is happy that someone’s voice is working, because hers sure isn’t.

“Yeah, congratulations, you’re having twins.”

Louis breathes out, trying to smile at Nick. Liam’s grip is impossibly tight and Louis looks up to see that Liam looks like he’s seen a ghost.

>>>>

Liam hasn’t said anything since they left the doctor, actually since Nick told Louis that she was expecting twins. They’re at a diner now, Louis having begged him to stop and grab food, because even though he wasn’t talking, that didn’t stop Louis’ stomach from being hungry. Louis orders for the both of them, getting two burgers with fries and water.

The food has been there for fifteen minutes and Louis is halfway through her burger while Liam does nothing but sit there. She knows that he probably needs time, time to process everything that just happened. She hadn’t asked him to come today, he wanted to be there, spending the night at her place so he wouldn’t be late. And while Louis wasn’t going to make him, she didn’t want to be there alone, it’s a lot different today then it was when she went to confirm her suspicions about being pregnant. And while she wasn’t going to make him, she’s glad that she didn’t end up having to make Zayn go with her.

Liam needs the processing time, she totally gets that, and she’s understanding of that, but Louis has never really been good with silence. She needs him to do something, even if it’s word vomit his feelings and thoughts. She can take it; she just needs him to do something, for her sake of mind, if nothing else.

“Are you okay?” Louis asks, biting her lip as she watches Liam. He glances up at her, eyes glossed over and Louis nods. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I just need a minute,” Liam mumbles, voice quiet. Louis nods and bites her tongue against reminding Liam that he’s had plenty of minutes to think about this, but that would be rude, so she doesn’t say it, just waits. But she’s not very good at waiting, just like she’s not very good with silence. “So are you planning on leaving now? I know it’s a lot, me and my two babies, and I can understand if you want to, but you just have to tell me. Is that what you’re thinking about? Do you want to leave?”

“There are two people inside of you.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m told.”

“Two. That’s two times as many as I thought were in there this morning. Two times as many as I prepared myself for.”

“I know,” Louis says, flicking her hair out of her eyes. It’s two times as many as she paid for, honestly. “Twins run in my family, though. I should have known it was a possibility; my mother had two sets of them. Identical and fraternal, so really, there was a huge likelihood of this happening in any way. I never really thought about it happening, though. I thought I’d get what I’d paid for, which was one baby.”

“Louis, I just need a minute, okay?” Liam says, trying his hardest to keep his expression neutral and Louis nods.

“Yeah. Okay, that’s fine. Sorry,” she says, smiling at him before she lifts her burger to her mouth, biting down on it. Liam smiles back at her, soft and hesitant. Louis can’t help but feel sorry for him; because when he stole her cab there was no way that he knew this would happen. Just like when they went on their first date, maybe Liam pictured something like this, well down the road, obviously, but here he is, being thrown into this situation. 

Louis really wants him to know that he doesn’t have to stay, these aren’t his babies, and they’re not his responsibility, so she tells him that, because she really, really isn’t good at being silent.

“You don’t have to stay,” she says. “If you don’t want to, I’d understand.”

“Okay, but there are two babies inside of you. I just found that out. Just a few weeks ago you weren’t even pregnant and now we’re here, with two of them.”

“I actually was pregnant then, I just didn’t know about it.”

“Whatever,” Liam mutters, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t think you were pregnant, there better?”

Louis shrugs, glaring at him as she bites down on a french fry.

“I didn’t know you were pregnant and now you’re having two babies. I don’t—Louis, I didn’t plan for this. This is—That’s so much responsibility and money and time and—Two babies.”

Liam breathes out, his breath coming in short and quick, sharp, like he’s having trouble finding air. He looks at Louis, shaking his head before he stands up, dropping money onto the table before he leaves, rushing out of the diner and out into the city.

>>>>

Louis isn’t sure if this is a good idea but it’s the only idea she has. It feels like the only place she can go to really talk about this.

Harry looks confused when she swings the door open, her hair pulled back in a bun and stomach hidden in another one of those smock dresses she had on at their first meeting, this one pink with velvet shaped diamonds on it, gold glitter lining the sleeves.

“Louis? What are you doing here? We don’t have a meeting,” Harry says, rubbing her stomach.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just—I really needed to talk to someone,” Louis says, her mouth moving quickly, words pouring out of her at an alarming rate. “I’ve been seeing this boy and he went with me to the ultrasound and I’m having twins and he’s freaking out and I don’t know where he is and I don’t know what to do.”

She breathes out harshly, staring up at Harry. Harry sighs, opening the door a little wider and inviting Louis in. “Twins, huh? That’s amazing.”

“I know. I mean, I really wasn’t prepared for that, but like, it’s so great,” she says, dropping down on Harry’s couch. Harry’s apartment smells like lilac today, infused with vanilla and something grittier that Louis can’t put her finger on. “But it’s also overwhelming, to go from knowing that it’s one but finding out you were wrong, that there are two. I have to nurture two lives and that’s so scary.”

“Yeah, it is. I’m guessing that’s why your boyfriend ran out?” Harry asks, sitting crossed leg on the chair next to Louis, studying her carefully.

“I don’t think he ran off, I think he just needed the time and space that I wasn’t giving him,” Louis reasons, shrugging. “But it’s still awful. He didn’t even say where he was going. He just…left.”

Harry nods. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

“I have no idea,” Louis breathes out because that’s what she’s scared of. She would understand if he didn’t, if he erased himself from Louis’ life completely, but as much as she’d understand, she would also be absolutely devastated. She likes Liam. So much. And she’s not asking him to be a father to her kids, but she does want him around, just for her. But maybe asking for one is asking for the other, she’s not really sure.

“You know,” Harry starts, staring out of the window behind Louis. “I wasn’t always alone in this, you know. I was dating this guy, the father, and before I found out I was pregnant, he was always talking about how he wanted my kids, you know the type, I’m sure. He was a smooth talker, always knew the right things to say.”

“Yeah, I know the type.”

“Well, he wanted my kids until I was pregnant, that’s when he left. And it was hard at first, but Nick, Dr. Grimshaw, suggested that I start this group with some of his other patients and it helped. It helped to know how much support I had outside of myself.”

“So what are you saying?” Louis asks.

“I’m saying that if this guy decides he doesn’t want to deal with all of this, you’ll be fine. You have more than just him. You have the group, you have your friends, you have your family,” Harry says. “You’ll be fine. It’ll be fine, whatever happens.”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees, nodding. She leans back against Harry’s couch, grateful for the girl and her words. Louis might not feel them right now, might not think that she’ll be entirely okay, at least not for a while, she does know that Harry has a point.

Louis checks her phone, seeing that she has nothing and sighs. She’s not going to chase after Liam. He’s a grown man and he can figure his shit out on his own, without Louis holding his hand and without her waiting for him, hoping that he’ll still want her.

“So tell me about these babies,” Harry says finally, getting up from her chair to sit down next to Louis on the couch. “I want to hear everything.” 

Louis smiles because that she does want to talk about.

>>>>

When Louis steps through the threshold of her apartment Loki is there waiting for her, bouncing up on his hind legs, his tail wagging wildly. Bruce has a delayed reaction but eventually he comes bounding out of the other room, barking happily.

Loki wasn’t here when she left, which can only mean one thing. Liam is here.

Louis takes a deep breath, setting her purse down on the couch, kicking her sandals off and taking her time before she follows the noise in the other room. The conversation they’re about to have could go in any direction and Louis isn’t sure she’s prepared to have it, not after such a wonderful day with Harry, laughing and enjoying herself, listening to Harry’s horror stories about what the first trimester can bring.

On the table is a stack of books, ranging in topic from pregnancy to how to take care of your infant. There are a ton of pregnancy guides, for expecting mothers, fathers and parents. Louis stares at them, jumping when something crashes in the kitchen, followed closely by Liam’s cursing.

“What’s going on?” Louis asks, her feet guiding her towards the kitchen, almost as if she were on autopilot.

Liam’s unloading groceries into her fridge, fruits and vegetables and ice cream and yogurts. Louis can see that’s full, the crash coming from a tub of yogurt falling out of the fridge since there’s not much room left in there for it. It’s definitely not what her fridge looked like when they left.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing Liam says, shoving the yogurt in the fridge and closing the door quickly, grinning in triumph when it actually shuts. He turns back towards Louis, smile falling. “I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I needed a minute. It was a lot of information and I was trying to process it all, and you just kept talking.”

Louis can feel the blush on her cheeks at that last part. “You were being too quiet, I didn’t like it.”

“I know and that’s fine. But I needed the quiet, just to get my brain around what was happening. It was overwhelming.”

“I know it is,” Louis sighs, playing with the ends of her hair. “And that’s why I meant what I said earlier, about how if you want to leave I’d understand.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I don’t expect you to stay, though.”

“And I’m not asking you to,” Liam says, taking a step forward. “But right now, this is what I want to do. I want to be here. And I don’t expect you to expect that from me, but if it’s alright with you, I’d like to stick around for a while.”

Louis wishes she had a better poker face, because she wants to make Liam squirm, wants him to feel the same bitter sense of dread she felt in Harry’s apartment earlier, but she’s so happy that the smile on her face betrays her, letting him know that she’s more than okay with him sticking around.

“I guess you’re okay enough to be with for a while,” she says, taking a step forward. “Tolerable, I suppose.”

Liam rolls his eyes, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in. “Well, hopefully you’ll find something redeemable about me while I’m here,” he says, brushing the hair out of her face.

“Not likely,” she teases, leaning up on the tips of her toes to kiss him, grinning into it when she feels the pinch to her ribs. Liam can play along, she likes that.

>>>>

Pregnancy symptoms don’t hit until the third month, when Liam and Louis are out to eat and a wave of nausea washes over her, her stomach clenching in that all too familiar dread that happens right before you get sick.

It continues after that, happening at least three times a week at complete random. She has no clue what sets her off, if it’s taste or smell or just her body wanting to be a pain in the ass. Liam tries to be helpful, bringing her a glass of water when she finishes, offering to call Nick for some of that medication he had, or trying to hold her hair back.

It’s sweet and Louis wishes that she could be a normal woman and blame him for all of this, shake her fist at him and tell him that this is all his fault, that she wouldn’t be sick if he knew how to keep it in his pants. But she can’t do that and it makes morning sickness that much worse, because she paid to have this happen.

Louis can also tell that her breasts have gotten a bit bigger and still tender, but not as bad as they were in the beginning. Liam says he likes that change, before he quickly changes his mind when Louis glares at him, saying that they were perfect before and now they’re lovely but he definitely prefers whatever Louis prefers.

The worst of it all, Louis thinks, is that she’s gained four pounds. Dr. Grimshaw promises that it’s normal and healthy and good for the baby, she thinks he’s full of shit. And she blames him for this whole thing. Him and number 3829.

But all in all, Louis thinks that her first trimester went by beautifully, judging from the stories she’s heard at her single mother’s club.

>>>>

Louis isn’t the pregnancy marvel that she likes to think she is, at least that’s what she figures out in the fourth month. Nausea is at an all time high and Louis had trouble keeping her breakfast down, watching as Liam eats a glorious egg and bacon breakfast while she had to eat toast without anything on it. And that was fine, really, because Louis didn’t feel like getting sick, so eating toast was fine. What’s not fine is how badly her gums are bleeding as she brushes her teeth, almost like she’s never picked up a toothbrush before in her life.

She read about this in one of the books Liam bought her but she doesn't remember it happening so quickly and she definitely doesn’t remember her gums ever being this sensitive before.

Everything feels like it’s falling apart and she hates it, hates feeling out of control, especially when it comes to her own body, like she can’t stop these awful changes from happening, no matter how great the end result is going to be.

Louis is grumbling under her breath, toothbrush in her mouth when Liam finds her, leaning against the doorframe and smiling.

“What are you smiling about?” Louis asks, words jumbled together.

“What do you look so grumpy about?”

“I’m falling apart,” she says, rinsing out her mouth and putting her toothbrush back. “Everything is going to hell.”

“How so?” Liam asks, watching amused. Louis hates that about him, how he won’t just agree with her and tell her that her body has gone to shit. Actually, no. She’d hate him more for that.

“My gums are bleeding,” she says, pulling her lips up to show off her teeth. Liam nods, tutting under his breath.

“That happens.”

“And my boobs are huge,” she says, motioning towards them. She’s never had any complaints about her boobs before, she’s always thought they were decent enough, a nice handful as Zayn had referred to them, but now they’re bigger. Maybe not to anyone else but Louis knows her body and they’re bigger, almost obnoxiously so, she thinks.

“I did notice that one,” Liam says, eyes trained on her breasts. “That one…yeah.”

“Shut up, Liam,” she says, brushing past him to throw herself dramatically on her bed. “And I’m also fat. Have you noticed that one?” She asks, propping herself up on her elbows.

Liam rolls his eyes. “You’re not fat.”

“I’m huge,” she cries, lifting up her shirt to reveal her stomach, where—okay, so she really hasn’t gained that much weight, only seven pounds and it’s barely noticeable, unless you’re like her, and you’ve seen yourself naked everyday and you just know. There’s the tiniest hint of a protrusion there, making her a little squishier than she was before, if she wants to use Niall’s words. “Do you think I look bigger?”

Liam shakes his head, moving to sit down on the bed next to her, fingers moving across her stomach gently. “You’re barely showing,” he says, touching the soft curve at the base of her pants. And it’s true; rationally she knows this, mostly because she can still wear jeans.

“Barely, but I still am,” Louis says, because rational isn’t exactly her forte.

“You look amazing,” Liam says, almost dutifully. “Showing or not.”

“Liam Payne, are you being a liar?”

“Never,” he says, looking at her with a smile on his face. “You know what might make you feel better?”

“What?”

“Call Harry, see if she wants to go do baby stuff.”

“But didn’t you want to do something today?” Louis asks, frowning as she straightens up, pulling her shirt down. “I thought you wanted to go out.”

Liam shrugs. “We can go out anytime, it’s not a big deal. I’ve got an exam to study for anyway,” he tells her, standing up. He grabs her hands and pulls her up with him, kissing her forehead. “You go and do mommy things with Harry, you’ll feel better afterwards, promise.”

>>>>

Harry knows the most obscure baby stores, places that Louis would walk passed any other day, but not today, with Harry gripping her hand and dragging her inside, practically vibrating in excitement.

“You’re going to love it here,” Harry promises, still holding onto Louis’ hand. “I come here all the time, sometimes to just stare at all the stuff.”

“They have a lot,” Louis notes, eyes taking in all the different cribs to her left and the clothes on her right. There are toys and furniture and plush dolls and décor, so much that Louis is overwhelmed. “God, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this place.”

“A lot of people over look it because it’s not a chain,” Harry says, finally letting go of her hand when she reaches the cribs. “I’ve been wanting to get one of these, but it’s so hard to decide which one. Have you thought of a theme yet?”

“A theme?”

“Yeah, for your nursery,” Harry says, fingers gliding across the top of a white crib, sighing contently at it.

“No, I really haven’t thought about anything, honestly. This is my first time in a baby store since I found out I was expecting.”

“Do you know what you’re having yet?”

“No, we find out next week,” Louis says, glancing down at the price of a crib. “Holy shit, these things are expensive. This is the price of one?” There has to be some kind of error. It’s for a baby, a tiny little thing that barely takes up any space. There’s no way a crib would cost almost as much as her rent. “Is this a joke?”

Harry laughs at her, giggling into her hand as she continues to browse. “It’s not a joke, babe, but don’t worry. For you, we can start with the basics, like swaddling blankets and a few clothes, just to get you started.”

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

“I think I’m going to get this crib,” Harry says, pointing towards the white one that she first looked at. “I’m about to start my third trimester next week and it’s not like I can keep putting it off. And I had the nursery painted the other week, so it’s just sitting there, waiting for me to do something with it.”

“You’ve picked out your theme, then?” Louis asks. She feels like there’s a lot she doesn’t understand about preparing to have a baby, things like prepping a nursery and picking out colors and themes and blankets and buying cribs. But maybe that comes towards the end, apart of the nesting process that Liam told her about.

“Yeah, but it’s kind of silly,” Harry says, shrugging. “It’s underwater theme. He’s going to have a navy blanket with sea creatures on it. The sheets are light blue with green stripes, I thought it would look like seaweed, but,” Harry shrugs once more, looping her arm through Louis’ and guiding her away from the cribs. “I bought him a stuffed whale.”

“Him, huh?” Louis asks, because she remembers when Harry told her, stomping her foot on the ground to emphasize the fact that she was not going to find out the gender until the baby is brought out of her.

“I checked the envelope,” Harry admits, biting down on her bottom lip. “I kept it with me for safe keeping, because I didn’t want anyone else to peek but I peeked. I’m awful.”

Louis laughs, nudging Harry’s side with her elbow. “You’re only human, babe. Besides, I’ve been bugging Grimshaw to tell me since my second appointment,” Louis admits. “Besides, at least now you can start thinking of names, yeah?”

“I think I might want to name him Archie,” Harry says, rubbing at her stomach. “Do you like Archie?”

Louis doesn’t, but it’s not her baby, so she says, “Yeah, Archie’s cool. Archie Styles.”

Harry stops, eyes squinted as she thinks about it. She shakes her head. “No, that doesn’t sound good.”

“Well, you’ve got time,” Louis says. “Now, come on, I want to buy their first outfit.”

>>>>

Louis is giddy as she waits for Dr. Grimshaw, her leg bouncing and nerves rattling inside of her. Today’s the day, the day they get to see the babies again and when they find out what she’s expecting.

Liam wasn’t able to sleep the night before, sending Louis texts all night long, worried about combination that they’re going to get. His biggest worry, however, was that the doctor would find another baby, because so far, their track record would have it that they get one more baby then they expect every time they get an ultrasound.

“What do you want?” Liam asks, looking down at Louis. “Do you care?”

Louis shakes her head. She hasn’t really thought about it much. She knows how to take care of girls, being raised in as the oldest in a house full of them has trained her for that. But boys would be nice too, because she only has one brother and Harry is having a boy, so Harry could help her, could tell her what to do and give her things when she needs them.

“I don’t know,” Louis says, shrugging. “What do you want?”

“I’m not telling,” Liam says, fingers moving to Louis’ hair. “It’s a secret.”

Louis glares up at him, pinching his wrist as the door opens to their cramped room. It’s not Dr. Grimshaw that comes in, but a woman named Scarlett that tells them she’s the ultrasound tech and she’s going to show them their babies.

“Do you want to know the sexes?” She asks, flipping some switches and grabbing the wand. Louis is already lying on her back, shirt pulled up and stomach on full display, because she’s ready for this.

“Yes. Yes, please,” Louis breathes out, grabbing onto Liam’s hand as the gel is squirted onto her stomach.

The technician nods, setting the probe down on her stomach. She moves it around, clicking a few more buttons on the screen until it changes, revealing the grainy black and white image of Louis’ uterus. She tightens her grip on Liam’s hand, listening to the narration of the tech as she tells her what they’re seeing. She tells them that she’s taking pictures for them, images for them to take home. It’s nearly twenty minutes before she starts maneuvering the wand around, rolling it around on Louis’ stomach.

“It looks like you’re having,” The tech says, pausing as she rolls the wand around, probably to double check or something, Louis’ not sure, but she’s impatient, “two girls.”

“Girls?” Louis says, watching as the tech nods. “Two healthy baby girls.”

“That’s what I wanted,” Liam says, his voice right next to Louis’ ear. “I wanted two girls.”

Louis laughs because she’s willing to bet that Liam would have said that no matter the outcome, even if the tech surprised them and said Louis was carrying some kind of wild animal, like a monkey or something.

The tech stays with them for a few more minutes until she tells them that the doctor will be in shortly and that Louis can clean up and everything else. Louis is barely listening, her eyes trained on the frozen screen of her babies image, both of them just a few inches long.

“This is amazing,” Liam mutters, the door of their room shutting quietly as the technician leaves. Liam is rubbing a paper towel across Louis’ stomach cleaning up the gel. “Louis, there are two little girls inside of you.”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, turning to look at him. “I guess it levels the playing field a bit, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, three boys and three girls.”

“Three boys?” Liam repeats, frowning in confusion.

Louis scoffs, rolling her eyes as she tugs her shirt down. “Don’t pretend like you don’t have Bruce and Loki on your side.”

Liam laughs at that, throwing the paper towel away along the sheet they gave Louis to drape over her clothes. He shakes his head, sitting back down in the stool next to her. Louis just smiles back at him, tilting her head to the side to look at him. She wonders why Liam’s still here, when it’ll hit that point where everything is too much for him. She wishes that she wasn’t thinking it, not right now, not when everything is so wonderful. But she is, and she can’t help it.

“What?” Liam asks, looking at her like he can tell she’s hiding something, almost like her thoughts are spelled out on paper for him, in a language that he needs her to translate.

“Are you sure that you wanna be here?” Louis asks, staring up at Liam. They’ve talked about this in her single mom’s club, men walking out when they find out that their wife or girlfriend or ex is having a girl instead of a boy. Louis doesn’t think that would be Liam, because they’re not his kids, but you never know with something like this. Louis can’t be certain. She’s scared.

“Yeah, definitely,” is Liam’s answer, as he presses a kiss to Louis’ forehead, his fingers tangled in her hair. “Definitely want to be here.”

>>>>

Fifteen pounds. Louis has gained fifteen pounds. She’s miserable. She’s fat and miserable. She’s just starting to show, her stomach protruding more than it’s ever done before. It’s a round little bump that Liam spends far too much time rubbing, staring at it and talking to it. Louis wants to know how much of that fifteen pounds has gone to her breasts, because they’re bigger, a full cup size bigger and it’s beginning to weigh down on her, her shoulders aching from the new addition.

“Are my boobs too big?” She asks, rolling onto her side to look at Liam. Liam, for his part, doesn’t blink an eye, just stares at his book and continues reading.

“No,” he says easily enough. “They’re growing for the babies.”

Louis rolls his eyes. She hates that he’s the voice of reason. His stupid body hasn’t changed at all; he’s still thick and muscular, small at the waist, everywhere that she’s not. Louis groans as she steps out of bed, bending down and tugging on a pair of sweatpants.

“I’ll have to wear these forever,” she tells him. “I’m huge.”

“You’re beautiful,” Liam says, finally closing the book. “You know we have this argument once a week, every time you step on the scale. I’m tempted to throw the thing out the window.”

“I need to make sure I’m gaining enough weight to keep the babies healthy,” she tells him, matter of fact. “And we keep having this argument because you’re a liar.”

Liam sighs, shaking his head. “You’re not fat, you’re pregnant. Don’t insult the babies.”

Louis sticks her tongue out at him, crawling back onto the bed and sitting down on his lap. She does it harder than necessary, throwing her weight into it. He doesn’t even huff, just grabs her by the hips to steady her movements.

“You’re always on team babies,” Louis tells him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m going to have to throw you out.”

“Because I don’t think your weight gain is a problem?”

“Yes,” Louis says, nodding firmly. “It’s a terrible quality in a man.”

“Right,” Liam mumbles, nodding as he tips his face up, slotting his mouth against Louis’. The best thing, Louis thinks, is that Liam indulges her, letting her go off on her rants before he shuts her up in the best way possible.

Louis’ stomach flutters and she thinks that’s nice, thinks about how long it’s been since her and Liam have been intimate together. It’s been two weeks, at least, and Louis thinks now might be the time to change that.

Except the fluttering doesn’t stop, not fully, it comes and goes in waves, and Louis pulls away from the kiss, gasping.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asks, eyes snapping open and hands letting go of Louis completely as he holds them up in the air. “Did I hurt you?”

Louis shakes her head, hands moving down to her stomach, chasing the feeling. The fluttering continues, almost like she has butterflies in her stomach, this fluttering twist.

“Are you okay?”

“I felt one of them,” Louis says, her eyes wide in awe as he mouth curls into a smile. “Or maybe it’s both of them, but I feel them.” She grabs Liam’s hand, placing it down on the area where she can feel the movement, pressing down on it, her hand draped over his. “Can you feel it?”

Liam frowns, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Eventually she shakes his head, disappointment written across his face. “No, I can’t feel anything.”

Louis presses down harder, glaring at her stomach, internally begging the babies inside of her to let Liam feel them, just for a second.

“Louis, I can’t feel them,” he says, biting down on his bottom lip. He looks up at Louis, a pout on his face. Louis wants to laugh, wants to kiss it away because he’s adorable, but she doesn’t. Instead she pulls it away, pressing a kiss to it and sighing. She can imagine how awful it feels, knowing that the babies are doing something that they’ve never done before, or something they never knew about before, and having no access to that. All he has is Louis’ word, her description of it.

“The books say that it takes a little while longer to feel it on the outside,” she tells him, her voice soft.

“Yeah, I remember,” Liam mumbles, sighing. “I was just hoping that maybe that part of the books was wrong, you know?”

He’s frowning and Louis sighs, realizing that there’s nothing she can to make it better. “Alright, come here, you big baby,” Louis mutters, rolling off Liam and onto the bed, pulling him down with her. She rests Liam’s head on her chest, breathing out when he nudges against her ever-tender breasts.

Liam’s hand comes to rub at her belly, fingers shifting under her shirt to rub at the skin. He sighs as he does it, pressing a kiss against Louis’ collarbone. The fluttering has stopped, but Louis doesn’t tell Liam that, she just lets him rub at the skin where the movement once was.

>>>>

It takes two weeks for Liam to feel the baby. He’s stopped pouting when Louis tells him and she’s stopped hiding it from him, alerting him every time that the babies shift around inside of her. It’s not as often as she’d like, but enough that she knows they’re doing okay in there.

Dr. Grimshaw tells her that’s good and that everything else in her pregnancy is coming along nicely, including her pesky weight gain. But Louis has gotten over that, given into the fact that she has to start wearing dresses with leggings and maternity clothes that Harry gives her…the ones that fit Louis’ tastes, at least.

For the most part, Louis’ symptoms have died down and she’s starting to feel better, even if she has a little bit of back pain every now and again, accompanied by fatigue, since carrying around nearly twenty more pounds has done that to her.

But Louis has made peace with the fact that her body is changing, everything inside of her is shifting around without her worrying, so she might as well embrace the changes on the outside. It’s easier with Liam’s help, the boy refusing to move an inch and let Louis cave into her insecurities. He’s her rock, she thinks, the person – minus the two inside of her – that make everything even better.

Liam’s resting his head on Louis’ thigh, tapping the beat of a song against her stomach as he sings. It’s a song that Louis doesn’t recognize, probably one of his prized Jay Z songs that Louis hasn’t gotten into just yet.

Liam’s tapping his fingers wildly against her, tapping out a beat and then…

Something – or rather someone – taps back, pressing harshly against the area where Liam’s fingers are.

Liam jerks, jumping up and staring down at Louis’ stomach in shock. “Was that?”

“Do that again?” Louis says, careful not to move, careful not to disturb the babies.

Liam nods, tapping once and then twice and then one of the babies presses back, tapping against Louis’ insides. It goes back and forth, Liam using three fingers from each hand to tap Louis in two different places, getting two different kicks back. Louis thinks that maybe he’s annoying the babies, disturbing their slumber, or maybe he’s making them happy, maybe the babies think that he’s playing with them, maybe they know his singing is for them.

“I can feel them,” Liam says, his eyes wide as he holds his hands flat against Louis’ stomach, feeling as the babies press into his palms. Louis breathes out at the feeling, it’s much more intense this time, deeper and harder, but it’s not unmanageable. Harry’s warned her that it’ll eventually start to hurt, when one of them decides to burrow under her ribs and kick right between them or when they dig their little fingers into one of her organs.

“Oh my god. Louis. I can feel them.”

“Yeah,” Louis says, watching with a smile on her face as she takes in the awed expression on Liam’s face. He’s staring at her stomach like it’s the eighth world wonder, like god himself came down and allowed this, allowed him the honor of feeling the babies growing inside of Louis.

“Oh my god, this is amazing,” Liam mutters, looking up at Louis with a smile on his face. “Honestly, Louis. I’m so—This is the greatest thing. Oh my god.”

Louis laughs, lifting her hands up to run her fingers through Liam’s hair as he leans down, murmuring quietly against her stomach.

>>>>

The spare bedroom is cramped, filled with stuff that Louis was convinced she’d need at a later date because she didn’t have the heart to throw it away. An old couch that she used to love, boxes upon boxes of old clothing. The closet is filled with shoes that she had all but forgotten about it. But sadly, this all has to go, in order to make room for the babies.

“Look at how beautiful these are,” Louis says, holding up a pair of stilettos that she wore once, to her mom’s wedding when she married her newest step-dad. “They’re gorgeous.”

“Louis, you can’t keep all of this,” Liam says, taping closed a box marked donations. ”You’ve already saved two pairs of vans, a pair of boots, and three pairs of sandals.”

“But these are gorgeous,” she says, holding the shoes up into the light. Maybe if Liam can get a better look at them then he would understand how gorgeous these shoes are. They’re silver with little jewels.

“What do you have that you’d wear those with?” Liam asks, gently tugging the shoe from Louis’ hands. “These are formal shoes, love, so think about it.”

Louis stares at the shoes because as pretty as they are, she really doesn’t have much use for them. She wore them twice, once to break them in and another time at the wedding, where she took them off immediately following the ceremony and pictures. So yeah, she probably won’t ever wear them again, she thinks, groaning. “God, I hate when you’re right. Put them in that box, do it while my eyes are closed,” Louis says, closing her eyes until she hears the shoes clatter against the other pairs she’s forced to part with. “Why do you have to be so practical?”

“One of us has to be,” Liam mutters, grabbing a handful of shoes and tossing them into the box. Louis isn’t even going to look at them; she’s just going to trust that he’s doing the right thing.

“Help me up,” Louis demands, holding her hands in the air. Getting down on the floor had been tricky enough, so she can only imagine what standing up would be like if she didn’t have Liam to help tug her into a standing position. When she’s finally standing she glances around, rubbing her stomach as she tries to picture what they’re going to do with the room.

Louis hasn’t told Liam her plans yet, even though he’s going to be in charge of getting it completed, him and Niall and Zayn.

“Are you sure that you still want to paint these walls green?” Liam asks, taping up the box of shoes for donation.

“Yeah,” Louis answers. “But it’s a light green, really pale. It’ll go nicely with the wooden furniture and the bedding. Plus it’s soothing. Harry said that green is a really calming color. She thinks it’ll help the girls sleep and be more relaxed, keep them happy when I’m not around.”

“Yeah, so does Harry know about your master plan?”

“No,” Louis answers, shaking her head. “But I showed you the cribs. I want them to go over there,” she says, pointing towards the back wall. “Pressed together on one side so that the babies can be together for a while and then, when they’re a little older, we can reposition them so they’re on those side walls instead.”

“What about the rest of it?”

“Well, the dresser and changing table will go over here, with the bookcase next to it,” she says, motioning towards the wall behind her. “And we’ll put the rocking chair over here, with the toy chest that you want so badly.”

Liam grins, nodding along as he grabs another box, snapping it open. “So far it sounds good.”

“It’s going to be pretty,” she says, sighing as she glances around. She still has to order the bedding, but she thinks that can wait, at least until after the cribs are set up. She picked out ones that look like little quilts, one with a little more pink and the other with a little more purple. The skirts on the bed are white and blue, with the sheets pink and purple.

“I want to put little butterflies around the wall next to their cribs, around where their names will go.”

“What are their names?” Liam asks, pausing his movement to look at Louis. “We haven’t talked about that. Have you decided on names?”

Louis shrugs because she’s thought about names, yeah, it’s hard not to when Harry is constantly texting her names for her little boy. It makes Louis think, makes her wonder what she might name her little girls, but nothing has stuck with her. Nothing sounds right.

“What about Bailey?” Liam asks and he must be trying his best to look enthusiastic and encouraging, like they could solve the issue of not having names right in this moment. “Or Brynn?”

“What about Leona?” Louis asks.

“Do you really want another L name? Louis, Liam, Leona and… what? Lauren?”

“Alright, that’s a good point. No, I don’t want another L name.”

“What about Zoe?” Liam asks, nodding like he thinks that’s a good name. “It’s fun and cute, like a baby.”

“Have you ever met an adult named Zoe?” Louis asks, frowning. Liam shakes his head. “Exactly. There’s a reason for that.”

“Okay, then what about something classic, like Helen?”

“Helen?”

“Well, you asked if I knew an adult named Zoe, but I know adults named Helen.”

“We could do Rose. That works for babies and adults; it’s a win-win name. It’s pretty, too.”

Liam frowns, shaking his head. “I used to date a girl named Rose, for almost a year. I don’t—well, it’s your choice, obviously, but I’d like to request a veto, if that’s okay.”  


“Yeah, veto accepted. I’d rather not have one of my daughters named after one of your exes, if that’s okay,” Louis mutters, annoyed that there is no a list of names off limits that she doesn’t even know about. But it’s not like they’d be naming the baby after them, so it doesn’t really matter, in the long run. “How about we think about this later? There’s still plenty of time.”

“Yeah, alright,” Liam agrees. “Are you hungry?”

Louis rolls her eyes. “Like you even have to ask.”

>>>>

“Those are thirty dollar dresses,” Liam says, looking at Louis like he can’t really believe she’s even trying to buy them. “It’s thirty dollars for the same amount of fabric that covers my wrists.”

Louis pouts, jutting her bottom lip out as she stares at Liam. They’re cute and she doesn’t really care that the babies will be born in the heart of winter, she wants the frilly dresses, at least for pictures sake, since they’re not exactly practical. One of them is navy colored, striped with little daisies on it, and a puffy tutu style bottom. The other looks the exact same, except red. It’s almost too cute to pass up.

“Well, I’m getting them,” she says, throwing them in Liam’s basket. “I’ll pay for them, too. Set those aside as mine. You can buy your cheap onesies in boring colors, I’ll get the pretty dresses.”

“Alright,” Liam sighs, not willing to argue about it. Good, Louis thinks. Every little girl deserves a frilly dress, just as much as they deserve little onesies that make them look like footballs, like Liam wanted because he thought they would be funny. (Louis only pretended they were atrocious, she secretly loved them as well.)

“You could buy the dresses in a bigger size,” Harry suggests, looking at the two of them. “Like, three to six months instead, then it’ll be warmer and the girls will get more use out of them.”

“Shut up, Harry,” Louis says, winking at her. It’s not about the sizes; it’s the principle of the thing. Louis will buy what she wants for her babies, she doesn’t need Liam’s permission, and she’s going to show him that by spending sixty dollars on a dress. “What else did you say we needed?”

“Blankets,” Harry says, looking down at the list in her hand. “And we can get the towels and washing cloths and bath stuff afterwards.”

Louis hears Liam sigh, staring down at the basket in his hand with a frown. He’s thinking about something, his bottom lip pulled into his mouth as Harry continues to talk about the things that they’re going to buy, per her suggestion, along with the list that Liam wrote from the baby book.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to have a shower?” Harry asks for the fifteenth time. “You’d get, like, all of this, without spending any money.”

“For free?” Liam asks, looking at Louis.

“No. I don’t want a shower,” Louis says. “I told you, then I’d have to explain to my relatives how I got pregnant since they all know I wasn’t seeing anyone. Then I’d have to explain who Liam is and what he’s doing here.”

“I’m your boyfriend and the rest is none of their business.”

“Wouldn’t it be lovely if it were that simple?” Louis says, grabbing him by the elbow and tugging him towards the blankets. “But it’s not, so we’re going to buy it all. Or I could, whatever.”

Liam shakes his head, glaring at her as he grabs a three pack of swaddling blankets. “We’ve already talked about this. I’m helping. I’m just saying, it was an idea, especially since we need so much. We need two of everything.”

“It’s an idea worth throwing in the trash,” Louis says, grabbing another, this one in various shades of reds.

“Well, I’m sure you could get away with just one, in the beginning. It’s not like a newborn baby is going to know that they’re using their sibling’s bath,” Harry mumbles, handing Liam some bath towels and washing cloths. “But it might be better to get it all out of the way now.”

“Did you have a shower?” Liam asks, looking intently at Harry. “And how did you know what to buy? Some of this stuff wasn’t in the book.”

“No, I didn’t. And sometimes you just know, or you ask some other women who have had kids.”

“So you think that I should talk to my mom about this?” Liam asks and Louis rolls her eyes, hand rubbing Liam’s back. “And should you be standing? Louis’ says you’re almost due.”

“I’ll be fine, Liam,” Harry laughs, shaking her head. “And yeah, my due date is just around the corner. You might be stuck rushing me to the hospital.”

“I’m going to look at more clothes,” Louis tells them, nodding at Liam before she walks off. It’s just on the other side of the store; she’ll be fine on her own. She can take any pregnant person that tries to fight her for clothing, she thinks. As she’s walking away she hears Liam say:

“What are the signs of labor? I read about it in the book, a couple books, actually, but what do you know?”

Louis laughs as she goes, looking over her shoulder to smile at Harry, silently wishing her luck, she knows first hand how long Liam can asks questions and how personal they can get because of how detailed he wants the answer. But it’s cute, really, how excited Liam is to learn. Louis likes that about him, how when he’s not studying for school then he’s got his nose in a pregnancy book, pulling it down only to ask Louis about something.

>>>>

Louis is making the beds in the nursery when Liam finds her, out of breath from his jog. He’s leaning against the doorframe, panting as he says, “Taylor.”

Louis looks at him, then behind her for good measure before she looks back at him. “That’s not even close to my name.”

“No,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “For one of the babies. Taylor.”

“Taylor?” Louis repeats, tasting the name on her tongue. “Taylor.”

“Yeah,” he says, breathing out harshly through his nose, his lungs still trying to catch up with him, trying to pull in oxygen. “I’ve always wanted to name my baby Taylor, when I had one, so… I don’t know. I thought I’d suggest it. You can name the other one, but I like Taylor. It’s nice. It’s simple but it’s still pretty.”

“Okay. Taylor’s fine.”

“Really? You like it?”

Louis nods. “Yeah, it’s pretty. But I get dibs on the other baby. And their middle names.”

“Okay, yeah. That’s fine,” he says, nodding quickly. “Whatever you decide, whatever you want. Always.”

Louis nods, smiling at him, happy that Liam knows it’s her decision. She sighs as she sets the stuffed bear in the crib. Taylor, she thinks, trying to picture a tiny baby lying in this bed. She can almost see it, especially with a name, and she likes that. She likes being able to visualize her babies. She likes being able to see them in her life. It’s nice.

“What made you think of Taylor?” She asks, looking back at Liam.

“When we were out shopping with Harry, I was asking her all these questions and I was trying really hard to process it all. I tried so hard to write it all to memory, but the whole time I just kept thinking about how we were shopping for these nameless beings. We’re supposed to know if this and that is good for them, but we don’t even know who they are.”

“So Harry was telling you about the birthing process and you were thinking about baby names?”

“Yeah, kind of,” he admits, shrugging. “It’s just good to know, names and all that.”

Louis smiles at him, moving across the room so that she can wrap her arms around him, hugging him close. She can feel her pregnancy hormones creeping back up, and all she wants to do is be close to him. “You’re pretty great, you know,” Louis says, resting her head on his chest, already thinking about taking a nap. She’s exhausted, just from organizing the nursery and doing laundry. But that can wait, she’s not quite finished holding onto Liam.

>>>>

“So where’s Liam at?” Zayn asks, setting a bowl of popcorn down on Louis’ lap. It won’t sit there, her stomach hanging over a bit too much so he has to set it in on the couch, right before he sits down next to her. “Is he hiding from me?”

Louis rolls her eyes; she’s not really sure why Zayn has convinced himself that Liam should be afraid of him and why he’s convinced that Liam really is, especially when Zayn’s as big as a string bean. Louis wouldn’t want to watch her boyfriend and best friend fight, mostly because it’d be a lot of watching Zayn get snapped in half, which is sad for everyone involved.

“He has class tonight, so we won’t be seeing him.”

“Class, right,” Zayn mumbles, winking at Louis. “You can tell him that I’m not going to lecture him about treating you right. I’m not like that, and I’m ashamed that you haven’t told him that. You should be embarrassed.”

“Do you act like this with your sisters’ boyfriends, or am I just special?”

“You’re just special, babe. And none of them are pregnant, otherwise yeah, I’d have a talk with their boyfriends, too,” Zayn confirms, nodding as he shoves a fistful of popcorn in his mouth. “Besides, it’s funny with Liam, he gets so serious.”

“That’s because this is all serious to him,” Louis says, shoving Zayn over as her phone rings. “Hand me that, will you?”

“It could be your serious lumberjack,” Zayn mumbles, handing Louis her phone. “Tell him I said hi.”

“It’s not Liam, it’s Harry,” Louis mutters, because Harry’s sent her an essay, an entire text ratting off about how she’s in the hospital in labor and how bad it hurts and how close her contractions are and how her water broke but she’s not dilated enough to begin labor, but it’s just her, just her alone and waiting to meet her baby. She begs Louis to come up and see her, if she wants to, and Louis’ eyes get wider the more she reads. “Harry’s in labor.”

“Like?”

“Like she’s going to be giving birth to a baby soon,” Louis says, pushing herself up into a stand. “We have to get to the hospital. Can you take me?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Zayn says, jumping up and rushing to grab their things.

It takes them twenty minutes to find the hospital that Harry is at and to find her room. They don’t ask anyone to show them where to go, for fear of being rejected, but luckily enough, once on the maternity floor, Harry’s easy to find.

Louis knocks before she enters, knuckles against the wooden barrier before they make their way in. Zayn tries to wait out in the hall but Louis grabs him by the wrist, squeezing the skin hard enough to bruise as she yanks him in with her. She’s not going to deal with a woman in labor alone.

“You made it,” Harry breathes out, smiling at them. She’s covered in sweat, her hair sticking to her face. She looks tired, exhausted, and she’s not even halfway there. Louis feels bad for her, but mostly for herself, knowing that this is going to be her in a few short months, knowing that she paid to be in this position. “Who is that?”

“This is Zayn,” Louis says, watching as Zayn waves, looking everywhere but Harry, like he’s worried he’ll see something. “I was with him when you called. Shit. Zayn, text Liam, tell him where we are.”

Zayn nods, pulling his phone out as he takes a seat on the little couch. Harry’s room is nice, a big hospital bed in the middle a room bigger than half of Louis’ apartment. There’s a couch and a TV, a little exercise ball for her to sit on and bounce, probably to help labor along, Louis assumes.

“Make sure you take the drugs,” Harry tells her, taking Louis’ hand when she’s close enough. “It’s so bad, Louis. Daisy lied when she said childbirth was a breeze. She’s a liar. It’s so awful, everything hurts.”

“You got an epidural?” Harry nods and Louis makes a note to listen to her friend. If it’s bad with one baby then it must be awful with two, right? Probably. “How much are you dilated?”

“I think eight, almost nine.”

“Almost time?”

“Yeah, almost time,” Harry says, sighing. Her face contorts a bit as she clutches her stomach breathing out through her nose. “You can still feel them a bit,” she says, voice strained. “It’s not that bad, but I’m so uncomfortable.”

“I bet you are,” Louis says, brushing her fingers through Harry’s sweaty curls. “But you’re going to do so great, babe. You’re going to be the best mom in the world, better than me, even.”

Harry laughs, pressing her face into Louis’ hand. “I think you’ll be pretty great, actually,” Harry says, letting go of her stomach to tap against the device they’ve wrapped around her to monitor the baby’s heartbeat. “I picked a name.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Noah. Noah Alexander,” Harry says and Louis breathes out in relief, grateful that Harry didn’t choose any of the other absurd names she’s texted Louis the past few months. At one point Harry considered naming him Rocket, because he was so active inside of her. Louis had smiled at that suggestion, nodding her head and refusing to say anything else.

“That’s perfect,” Louis tells her. “Noah Alexander Styles. I bet he has curls, just like you.”

Harry smiles at that, sighing at the thought. She’s quiet for a moment, staring down at the blankets over her legs. She bites her lip and looks up at Louis. “I’m kind of scared.”

“Scared? Why?”

“It’s going to be just me in there, when I give birth. I’m alone,” she says, biting down on the plump of her bottom lip to look up at Louis, green eyes sparkling. “It doesn’t really hit you until you’re about to have the baby that you don’t have anyone.”

“You have me. I’ll go in there with you.”

“Louis, you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t even be in a hospital, too many germs.”

That’s true, Louis thinks, biting down on her own lip. It still doesn’t change the fact that she wants to be there for Harry, that she wants to be her birthing coach and talking her through it. If Harry has no one then Louis is willing to be that someone for her, like Liam is going to be her. Except Harry’s right, she can’t do it. And Liam’s not here, so that really only leaves one other option…

“Zayn can do it,” Louis says.

“Zayn can do what?” Zayn says, finally tuning into their conversation. “What are you talking about? What can Zayn do?”

“You can be her birthing coach. You went to one of the classes with me when Liam couldn’t, you know what you’re doing. It’ll be a breeze. You just have to hold her hand and tell her how great she’s doing and let her call you an asshole,” Louis says, shrugging. It’s not that bad of an arrangement, better then pushing six to nine pounds out of you.

“Wait. You’re being serious?” Zayn says, looking back and forth between the two of them. Louis looks down at Harry to see that she’s nodding, and if Harry isn’t opposed to having a relative stranger in the delivery room with her, then she thinks that says it all. “You’re being serious?”

“Yeah, we are, so suck it up, Malik,” Louis tells him, slapping him on the arm. “Consider it practice for when you have your own.”

Zayn stares at them, mouth hung open a minute before he groans, nodding his head in agreement. Louis grins at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, telling him how amazing he is.

And almost thirty minutes later, Harry is being carted away, grinning at Louis as she disappears. Zayn looks like he might be sick, already donning a pair of scrubs, but it’s too late now, Louis thinks, watching as the elevator door shuts. Very soon Harry is going to have her baby and then it’s Louis’ turn. She’ll be in here next, being rolled away for delivery.

Louis turns in time to see Liam running down the halls, looking frantically at Louis.

“Liam, why are you running?” Louis asks, watching as he skids to stop, hand held over his heart. “Are you okay?”

“I thought—I thought that. Oh god, I can’t breathe,” Liam pants out, gripping harshly onto his chest. “All Zayn’s text said was that you wanted me down here for the baby. I thought something happened, oh my god,” Liam breathes out. “I ran out of class. I thought—Louis, oh god. You’re okay, though, right?”

“I’m fine,” she says, reaching out to touch Liam’s arm. “Harry’s having her baby. That’s all. I’m fine. The babies are fine.”

“The babies are fine,” Liam repeats, nodding. He breathes out once more, shaking out of Louis’ grip so that he can pull her in for a hug, holding onto her as tight as he can. Louis can feel the erratic beating of his heart against her chest, like it’s about to burst right out of his chest. Louis sighs, because god, she really loves this man. So much.

>>>>

Louis blinks awake slowly, her mind fuzzy with exhaustion. There’s a banging clatter from the other room and Liam’s missing from the other side of the bed. She hears Bruce huff out a breath, obviously annoyed by whatever is making that noise. She lies there for a moment, waiting, but the sound doesn’t stop. Louis crawls out of bed, slowly and carefully, groaning at the stiffness in her back, the achy pain that’s been there for weeks.

It’s Liam making the noise, digging through Louis’ drawers and cabinets in the kitchen, looking for something. Louis leans against the doorframe, watching him. He’s muttering under his breath, hair wild from running his fingers through it. He looks exhausted and worried, like his brain is working a mile a minute.

“Li, babe, you alright?” Louis asks. Liam doesn’t hear her at first, too busy doing something with his hands as he continues to talk to himself, shaking his head and sighing, going back to the drawers. “Liam.”

Liam turns, blinking at her, eyes wide. “Did I wake you?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

“Go back to sleep,” he instructs, waving a hand in her direction. “I’m just—I’m looking for something. I have to—there’s something I need to do,” he pauses, glancing around the room before he looks back at Louis, “Have you got a calculator?”

“A calculator?”

“Yeah, like, something to do math with.”

Louis nods, pointing towards the drawer furthest from Liam, the one she keeps all the random junk that she doesn’t have a place for, like calculators and scissors and pens and little pads of paper. “Have you got homework or something?” Louis asks, frowning. She remembers Liam finishing a paper last night while she watched a movie, chilly feet stuck under his thighs. He had said then that he was finished for the night and that he was finally caught up with his work. “Liam?”

“No, I’m just—“ He pauses, turning back to look at her, releasing a deep breath. Louis can finally see him clearly now that he’s looking at her, the bags under his eyes and the look of pure exhaustion written in his skin. He looks awful, like he needs a break from everything, like he needs to sleep for several days just to be able to breathe properly again. “Do you know how much babies cost?”

“What?”

“Babies, do you know how much they cost?” Liam repeats and Louis shakes her head. Obviously they cost money, but she’s never actually cared to do the math of it all. “Almost three hundred thousand for eighteen years,” he recites, like he’s been repeating this to himself for a while. “But that’s for, like, a family of a certain income, so we could end up spending more, or less. Probably more, though, don’t you think? We both know that we’re going to spoil them.”

“Liam, that’s not—“ She wants to say that’s not true and she’s not sure why, because it is true. They’re going to spend money, but it’s not anything to stay awake about now, not when it’s out of their control. “Liam, don’t worry about that now.”

“Three hundred thousand, Louis. I mean, I was thinking we’d probably do, like, three hundred and fifty thousand, which doesn’t include college. And that’s like, thirty thousand a year or something, by the time they go, I’m guessing, so that is about another hundred grand, at least, right? I’m not—I can’t get this calculator to work,” Liam says, shaking the device in his hand, jamming his fingers at the buttons.

“Liam, why are you thinking about this?” Louis asks, but it’s almost like Liam doesn’t hear her, because he keeps going.

“But we have two babies, there are two of them, last time I checked. It’s been a while since we did a head count, but there are two, so we have to double everything. And four fifty doubled is,” Liam shakes the calculator again, breathing out harshly. “It’s double. It’s double that. And I didn’t even think about their first cars. That’s two cars, shit. Okay so, if we round, that’ll be,” Liam shakes the calculator one last time before he starts to do the finger math in the air, his fingers shaking. “It’s almost a million dollars, right? Something like that.”

“Over a lifetime, Liam. It’s not like you have to have that upfront. It only seems like a lot up front.”

“I don’t make millions of dollars, Louis. I’ll never make that much. I pour concrete and cut grass and put up street signs and fix traffic lights. I don’t—I’m not a millionaire,” Liam huffs out, sagging against the counter. “But I don’t know—it’s just something I’m thinking about.”

“Liam, let’s go to bed,” Louis says, taking a step forward.

“Zayn told me what it was like helping Harry give birth,” Liam says, looking at Louis carefully. “There was blood and this stuff he called goop and there was crying and Harry was—he told me everything. I have to do it twice, so that’s twice as much blood and goop and crying.”

Louis nods, sighing as she pries the calculator out of Liam’s hands, tossing it on the counter behind him. He’s still breathing harshly, looking at her, lost and concerned. She smiles at him, grabbing his hand and kissing it softly. “Come on, baby, let’s go back to sleep.”

“Yeah, okay,” Liam agrees, nodding. “We’ll be getting half as much sleep as we are now when they’re born. Less than half, since there is two of them.”

Louis nods, tugging Liam towards the bedroom. She doesn’t say anything as he continues to ramble about having two babies; instead she just pushes him into bed, tucking him like he’s a child before she crawls in next to him. She curls on her side, staring at him. “Look at me,” she says, watching as she rolls his head to the side, eyes coming into focus on her. “It’ll be okay.”

Liam nods, breathing out. “I was just thinking about it,” he says once more, rolling onto his side so that he can wrap an arm around Louis. “Two babies is a lot of babies.”

“Go to sleep, Liam,” Louis instructs, refusing to listen to him rant again. Maybe in the morning, over breakfast, she’ll listen again, but for now, Louis wants sleep. Liam needs sleep. She presses in closer to him, her stomach nudging his. He breathes out at the feeling, his hand moving to rest on the side of it, stroking as his eyes fall shut.

>>>>

They look like maps, or weird little cat scratches. Louis could argue that they look like the babies trying to claw their way out of her, since she can feel their little fingers scratching around on the inside. That would be a cool way for stretch marks to form, but unfortunately that’s not how Louis goes these and that makes her pout, makes her dislike them even more, because there isn’t a cool story behind them.

Well, having twins is a wonderful story, actually, but Louis still wishes she had a cool one to tell.

“Liam,” Louis whines, turning away from the mirror to face Liam, her eight-month pregnant belly on display. “I have stretch marks.” Liam knows this, he’s seen them before and normally they don’t really bother Louis. They’re a fact of life and she has more important things to complain about, like her swollen ankles and achy back and how tired she is, all the time. But today she wants to complain about this, just because she can.

“So?” Liam says, staring down at his textbook, ignoring Louis completely.

“What do you mean so? I’m covered in scars from being stretched out and all you can say is so?”

“Yeah.” Liam nods, shrugging, turning to look at Louis. “You can’t control something like that, it just happens.”

Logic, Louis hates it. Why can’t Liam ever indulge her? Why does he always have to come at her with reason and logic, making perfect sense of everything? It’s awful.

“Besides, I’ve got my own,” Liam says, lifting up his sweatpants, twisting his body around to show Louis the back of his knees. “I’ve got them here, and you know about the ones on the inside of my thighs.”

“Well, they’re cute on you,” Louis argues.

“And they’re cute on you.”

“They look like road maps, like a new city is being planned out as the babies grow.”

“We’ll call it Twin City,” Liam says, winking, forcing a laugh out of Louis. It’s not particularly funny, but the twitch of Liam’s eye is, so she laughs, rolling down her shirt and shaking her head.

Suddenly though Louis feels it, the loosening of her muscles in her lower abdomen. She gasps, eyes going wide as her laughter ceases. “Oh god,” she groans, turning to rush towards the bathroom. “Liam, I almost peed myself,” she shouts, and the sound that follows her is Liam’s roaring laughter, mocking her all the way to the toilet.

>>>>

Dr. Grimshaw doesn’t make them wait long this time, which is good, because Louis is tired and Liam has promised her smoothies and then a nap. She wouldn’t say she’s been cranky all day, but Liam might. It’s not her fault though, there is a foot wedged between her ribs, kicking them repeatedly, while little fingers claw at her kidneys. He’d be cranky too if his insides were turned into a wrestling ring.

“How have you been feeling, Louis?” Nick asks, rolling his stool closer to her. “Any worries?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Louis says, shaking her head. “It hasn’t been much, really. Weak bladder, swollen feet and ankles, and back pain. Pain in general, actually.”

“Pain?”

“Well, nothing concerning, just achy, kind of like…”

“She’s sore,” Liam supplies and Louis nods, pointing at him.

“Yeah, that.”

“That’s good, it’s all normal, and I suspect it’ll only get worse as you round out the end of your pregnancy,” the doctor says, shrugging when Louis groans. “It happens, Lou.”

“I’ve been telling her that,” Liam says, like a traitor. “She doesn’t listen to me very well, though.”

“I’m listening now and you should shut it,” Louis says, watching as Liam smiles at her, completely unphased.

“Well, as for your appointments,” Nick says, cutting into the argument before it can happen. Not like it would, but he’s probably in a rush. And so is Louis, she wants a smoothie, dammit. “You’ve been coming in every two weeks, but now, as we’re about to enter your ninth month, I want to start seeing you once a week until the baby comes.”

“Why?” Liam asks, frowning as he looks between Louis and Dr. Grimshaw. “Is everything okay? I thought you said the babies were good. Didn’t you say that, not even five minutes ago before we started talking about her symptoms?” 

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Nick tells him, clicking his pen and standing up. “It’s just standard procedure. We want to keep an eye on the babies as she nears her due date, make sure that nothing does happen, and if it does, then we catch it as soon as we can.”

“So everything is still okay?”

“Everything is perfect,” Nick says again, much like he did a few short moments ago. “And that’s why we check them, to make sure everything stays perfect. Your babies are healthy, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Liam breathes out and Louis smiles, grabbing onto his hand.

>>>>

“Is my ass huge?” Louis asks, staring at herself in the mirror. She looks at Liam through the reflection and sees that he’s frowning, conflicted on how he’s supposed to reply.

“Is this a trick question?” Liam asks and Louis rolls her eyes. Normally he knows when she’s going on a hormone-induced rant, which she might be right now, but he looks genuinely lost on that front. He’s not reciting back his dutiful response about how amazing she is.

“It’s not a trick. Answer me. Is it huge?” Louis turns around, moving her ass away from the mirror so that it’s facing Liam. Maybe now he’ll be able to see it properly, see how round it is.

“It’s a—Um, it’s very nice, Louis,” Liam says, nodding.

“Liam, is it big?”

“Big in comparison to what?”

“A butt.”

“I think it’s very nice. Definitely one of my favorite butts,” Liam says, nodding, refusing to incriminate himself by saying anything else. “It’s very…nice to look at, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Louis gasps, her eyes going wide as she looks at him. “Liam Payne, you giant pervert.” Liam bites back a smile, blushing at her words. “But I’m convinced my ass is bigger than my stomach. Like a blimp, almost. It used to be nice, but now it’s…”

“Still nice.”

“The size of Mars or something. Whatever planet is the biggest. Jupiter? Maybe. Whatever. It’s a planet,” she says, pouting at Liam. “It used to be so great. My old butt was better.”

“Your old butt?” Liam asks, frowning as he sits up, crawling to the edge of the bed so he can sit in front of Louis, pulling her in a little closer.

“Yeah, my before pregnancy butt.”

Liam nods, licking his lips. “Yeah, I don’t think I ever got to meet that ass. I’m afraid that I have no opinions on it, but I’m very much partial to this one.”

“Just look at this one and think better.”

“Yeah, I’m looking,” Liam says, his eyes trained on the mirror. Louis laughs, nudging his shoulder.

“Stop, you’re awful,” she says, grabbing his face and forcing her to look at him. “Tell me about school. We haven’t talked about it since this semester started. How has it been?”

Liam sighs, biting down on his bottom lip. He doesn’t look at Louis, not right away. He stares at the ground for a moment, mulling something over in his head before he sighs once more, looking back up towards Louis. “It’s not exactly going.”

“What do you mean?” Louis asks, eyebrows pulled together in confusion as she looks at him, because that statement doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t understand.

Liam opens his mouth to reply but a knock on the door stops him, followed by Bruce and Loki’s barking. Louis looks at Liam, then towards the sound then back at Liam.

“Who is that?” Liam asks and Louis shrugs, moving to go and see whom it is. She’s surprised when she opens the door and finds Niall standing there, big grin on his face, his arms lined with plastic bags.

“I brought gifts for the babies,” he cries out, stepping into Louis’ apartment. “Sorry it’s late, I wanted to give them to you since I was by your place. I hope that’s okay.”

“Oh my god, of course that’s okay,” Louis says, grinning widely. “Oh my god, what did you get?”

“Uncle Niall bought everything, babe, everything,” he tells her, winking as he pulls out two stuffed animals, a pink rabbit and a green elephant. Louis takes them from him, staring down at them in delight, watching as Niall dumps clothes and diapers and toys out of the bags and onto her floor.

>>>>

They decide to stop at a diner, the smoothie shop closed. Louis doesn’t pout like a child, but she does whine about it, hoping to make Liam as miserable as she feels. She promised her babies smoothies, not burgers and fries…although the chocolate milkshake is a nice touch, she’ll admit. It definitely works towards earning Liam her forgiveness.

Louis can see a girl across the diner, tall and thin, long brown hair staring at them. She looks like she’s trying to figure something out. Louis has never seen her before, she doesn’t think, but the girl’s stare is making her uncomfortable, forcing her to set her burger down.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asks, noticing the look on Louis’ face.

“This girl is staring at me,” Louis says, wiping her face off with a napkin. “Over by the counter.”

Liam turns to check who it is and Louis is surprised to see him wave at her, the girl perking up, smiling widely. Liam turns back towards Louis with a sigh when he sees her raised eyebrow. “Her name is Sophia, she’s a girl I know.”

“A girl you know?”

“Liam, I’m surprised to see you. How are you?” The girl, Sophia, asks, smiling down at Liam. She’s even prettier up close and Louis is infinitely jealous. Luckily, though, she did come out dressed to impress, wearing her best pair of maternity jeans and an orange top that cinches at the place where her waist used to be, right below her breasts. It’s Liam’s favorite shirt of hers, so she has that going for her. And she’s no longer wearing her puffy winter jacket, the one Liam bought when she said she wasn’t going to go out all winter, that Dr. Grimshaw could come to her if he wanted to see her babies that badly.

“I’m great,” Liam answers, smiling. “What about you?”

“You are?” She asks, skeptical. “Are you really okay?”

“Yeah,” Liam says, frowning. He turns back to look at Louis, pointing over towards her. “This is my girlfriend, Louis. Louis, this is Sophia.”

“Hi,” Louis says, grinning up at the other girl, who is frowning back at her, confused.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. And she’s pregnant.”

“Yeah, I am,” Louis says, folding her arms over the top of her stomach, trying to hide it from Sophia’s view.

“Wow, I had no idea,” Sophia says, sounding genuinely amazed. Louis doesn’t understand what’s happening, so she just smiles, hoping that Sophia will go away so that she can ask Liam about her. “Oh gosh, I’m Sophia,” she says. “Liam and I used to go to school together.”

“Used to?”

“Yeah, before he dropped out.”

Louis blinks because what? Liam what? She turns to look at him, noticing the red of his cheeks, sneaking all the way up to the tips of his ears.

“You dropped out?” Louis asks, watching as Liam runs a nervous hand through his hair.

“I did, yeah. I was going to tell you.”

“When? And why? Liam, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about you and the babies,” he says, waving his arm around. He’s nervous and he doesn’t know what to do with his body, but Louis doesn’t care. She doesn’t care that Sophia is about to witness an argument, one that’s shaping up to be the worst one they’ve ever had. Louis can feel it. “I don’t make much money, Louis, and you and the babies need that. I had to drop out so that I can start looking for a better paying job.”

“That’s why you’re going to school, Liam, so you can make more money doing a job that you actually want.”

“And it can be put on hold,” he says. “I didn’t actually drop out. I took a leave, that’s all. I can go back when the twins are a little older, after we’ve gotten some money saved up.”

“Twins,” Sophia says, cutting the both of them off. “Wow. You’re having twins and you didn’t say anything? Liam, that’s so amazing. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Liam mutters, distracted, trying to offer Sophia a smile.

“You’re really about to have a baby? Or twins, I guess.”

“Well, they’re not mine,”Liam says. “ But yeah, twins.”

Louis isn’t sure what her face looks like right about now. There’s a deep sort of ache somewhere in her body, one that’s definitely not pregnancy related. It’s deep in her chest, more stabbing and sharper than anything else, not the dull steady throb of sore muscles. Liam said the babies weren’t his. Which, realistically, biologically, might be the case, but that’s not—It doesn’t match the way that Liam’s been acting; it doesn’t match the words he’s spoken to Louis.

Liam, for nine months has gone about this pregnancy as if the babies were his own, because of his feelings for Louis, he had said. And Louis had always promised him an out, if he wanted it, but she didn’t think it would be like this. She didn’t think it would a denial spoken in a diner to some girl that Louis has never met.

Maybe it’s not an out, but it feels like one, and time is standing still around Louis as Sophia rambles on about her babies, about her daughters, the ones she really is on her own with.

“What do you mean they’re not yours?” Louis says, her voice low, eyes boring into Liam.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Louis,” Liam says, looking at her like she’s about to make a big deal out of nothing, like this is another hormone-induced overreaction. It’s not. This is all Louis.

“Well, that’s what you said.”

“Louis, come on. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“She said you were having babies and your first reaction is to tell her that they’re not yours. Why? Why not just say a simple yes or give her a smile, anything other than ‘oh they’re not mine’.”

“Louis, can we please not do this right now? You know that’s not what I meant.”

“There is no other meaning besides ‘they’re not mine and I don’t want them’.”

“That’s bullshit. That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“Do I?” Louis asks. She’s not really sure she does know that, actually, Liam’s words seem to have proven otherwise.

“I wasn’t trying to start a fight,” Sophia says and Louis rolls her eyes.

“Soph, this really isn’t a good time. Do you think that you can leave us alone, please?” Liam says, his voice far too kind for Louis liking. She’s angry and hurt and she doesn’t want to deal with sensible Liam. She wants him to feel the same gut wrenching hurt that she does right now. She’s not even sure in what way, she’s just so sick and tired of him being so fucking honorable about everything.

“No, she can stay. I’m leaving,” Louis says, nodding firmly as she grabs her jacket and her purse. Liam can pay for her half eaten food. She grips the bottom of the booth, trying to shimmy her way out. Her stomach is pressing against the table, making her grand exit not as grand as she would have liked. “I told them that I didn’t want a fucking booth.” She doesn’t think she can get out. She had trouble getting in and now she’s trapped, forced to sit in a diner prison for the rest of her life, or until she loses her pregnancy weight after the babies come. “Liam, are you going to help me?”

Liam sighs, sliding out of his side of the booth with ease. Louis hates him, she honestly hates him and his lovely abs and how they can fit in these stupid, stupid things. Liam grabs onto her forearm, gently helping her out. It takes a minute but finally Louis is standing, huffing out a breath as she slides on her coat.

“Thank you,” Louis mutters, zipping her coat up to her chin.

“Louis, you’re being ridiculous,” Liam tells her.

“Maybe,” Louis says, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “But then again, it’s not your babies inside of me that are making me so fucking ridiculous.” She glares at him, out of breath from trying to get out of the booth.

“What are you going to do, Louis? Walk home? It’s cold outside and you’re pregnant. And you’re being ridiculous, with _my_ babies inside you,” Liam says, emphasizing the fact that the babies are his. Louis rolls her eyes. “I’m going to drive you home, at least.”

“No, you’re going to leave me alone,” Louis tells him, still glaring. “I’m taking a cab home and don’t get in this one.”

“Louis-“

“Leave me alone, Liam,” she says, before she stomps out of the diner, moving as quickly as her pregnant body will allow.

Louis doesn’t look over her shoulder, just keeps walking to the bus stop two blocks over, the one that will take her home.

>>>>

Sleeping without Liam is difficult. Sleeping when you’re angry and sad and disappointed and upset and heartbroken and embarrassed is difficult, Louis finds out that night. She’s tossing and turning, rolling from one side to the other. She jams the pillow under her stomach, shoving another behind her back and trying to find a comfortable position for her body. None of them are proving satisfying and she’s so exhausted.

Louis thinks that she could cry, from a combination of things, really. She could cry because of her feelings about what happened with Liam. She could cry because there’s a throbbing pain in her lower back. She could cry because she’s alone and not even Bruce will jump into bed with her and let her cuddle against him. Mostly she could cry because she’s an idiot, for all kinds of reasons. For getting inseminated and then starting a relationship, falling in love, and wishing for a life that she was so close to having.

Louis isn’t the best at showing it, showing how much she wants something. She knows she’s not the glowing dotting mother that Harry is and was. She wants the babies, but she’s not external about those feelings, not like Harry and other moms are. She’s not good at showing how much she cares about Liam. And maybe that’s the problem, she’s not sure.

Zayn shows up twenty minutes after she calls him, hair messed up and wearing his pajamas. He grumbles under his breath as she lets him, waiting for her to lock the door before he follows her back towards her bedroom.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Zayn asks, sounding exhausted and concerned, like he wants to hear about what’s wrong with Louis while his eyes are closed and he’s unconscious.

“I can’t sleep,” Louis tells him.

Zayn sighs, shaking his head as he crawls into bed next to her. “Most people open a book and read, drink warm milk, something. Their first reaction isn't to call their best friend.”

Louis shrugs, waiting for him to settle into bed before she presses in next to him, stomach leaning against him. Zayn shoves a pillow under her back and she sighs, because yeah, that’s perfect. “What took you so long to get here?” Louis asks, eyes falling closed. “You don’t live that far away.”

“I was at Harry’s,”Zayn mumbles and Louis’ eyes open once more, blinking.

“Harry’s? At three in the morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you two—you know?”

She feels Zayn shake his head, the movement vibrating through his pillow and onto hers. “No, she just—I mean, you help a woman give birth and then she wants your help with other things.”

Louis nods, letting her eyes close again. She doesn’t believe him, not even a little bit. She makes a note to ask Harry about it. Actually, she makes a note to visit Harry and Noah, she hasn’t seen them in a couple weeks and she wants all the gossip about what’s going on with her and Zayn.

“Do you like helping her?” Louis asks after several minutes, unsure if Zayn’s still awake.

“Yeah, it’s alright,” Zayn tells her, voice far off, like he’s ready to fall asleep. Louis thinks that sounds good, sleep.

>>>>

It’s supposed to be a movie night, Louis thinks, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. When she agreed to go to Niall’s place for the night, she was told they would be watching movies and spending time together as a threesome before the babies came. She was not, and she remembers this part vividly, told that there was going to be an interrogation. That’s part was left out, and had she known about it, she wouldn’t be here.

“Louis, can you just tell us what happened?” Niall asks, sighing. It’s the third time he’s asked. Zayn’s only on his second time, but he looks like if he has to ask again he’s going to explode. He won’t though; Louis knows that, no matter how much he wants to.

“We could call Liam and ask,” Zayn says, shrugging nonchalantly, and Louis glares. She hates him. She’s going to tell Harry that he’s been treating her poorly, just to get him in trouble. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk about it with us.”

“Call him,” Louis challenges, eyes fixed on Zayn like a hawk stares at its prey.

“Alright.” Zayn lifts his butt up, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “It’s been a fucking week, someone should tell us what the hell happened. And if you won’t, well, he’s the next best person, right?”

“He doesn’t want the babies,” Louis tells him, watching as Zayn raises an eyebrow, lowering the phone from his ear and ending the call. Or at least pretending to, she’s not really sure if he actually pressed talk. “He doesn’t want them, so it’s over with. Not a big deal.” Louis shrugs, feigning nonchalance about the whole thing. It’s really not a big deal; men leave all the time during pregnancy. It’s not like she’s the first person this has ever happened to.

“What happened?” Niall asks again, voice firm and loud, making it clear with Louis what he wants to know.

“He said the babies weren’t his.”

“Well, if you wanna get technical,” Zayn mumbles, biting back the rest of his sentence when Louis shoots him a glare. “I’m just saying.”

“And I’m just saying that I don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t want anything to do with my children, so if he doesn’t want them and they’re not his, then whatever. He can go.”

“But did he actually say that he didn’t want them?” Niall asks.

Louis shrugs. Honestly, she can’t really remember what happened in the diner. It’s all a blur of emotions and hurt and feeling like she had to get away, like she had to escape. The only thing she’s absolutely certain on is that Liam denied the babies and called her ridiculous, everything else is a blur.

“Even if Liam said the babies weren’t his - which we’re missing a lot of context for this, by the way - I don’t think that’s really what he meant,” Zayn says.

“I know that’s not what he meant,” Niall adds. “And context or not, it’s a shitty thing to say.”

“Of course it is.”

“But like, the babies aren’t his, biologically speaking. But come on, Louis, we all know that he wishes they were. And we all know that he wants to be here, with you and with the babies.”

“Yeah,” Zayn agrees, rolling his eyes like he can’t believe Louis. “Liam is great. I won’t deny that, but he can be an idiot sometimes, like dropping out of school without really thinking about it. Harry told me about that,” Zayn says quickly, stopping Louis from interrupting. “And he was an idiot for saying they weren’t his.”

“To your face.”

Zayn rolls his eyes, placing a hand over Niall’s mouth. “At all. And you won’t see me defending that, but like, you can’t tell us that Liam doesn’t love you and both of those babies. You just can’t, Lou.”

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” Louis asks. At least Harry had indulged her. She was angry and hurt and offended for Louis' benefit, calling Liam all the right names and talking about how selfish he is. Harry had listened. Harry was team Louis, unlike these two.

“We're on yours,” Niall says.

“Oh really? Wow, I can tell,” she retorts, rolling her eyes. “You have an amazing way of showing it, don’t you?”

“You’re a stubborn shit, aren’t ya?” Niall mumbles, standing up. “Come here, I want to show you something.”

“Show me what?”

“Get up and you’ll see,” he says, stalking off down his hall.

Louis looks at Zayn, who shrugs and helps her stand; walking next to her towards the place where they think Niall went. He’s standing in his spare bedroom, leaning against the doorframe, holding a hand out in the room.

“What?” Louis asks, looking at him for a second before she looks into the room. It’s filled with stuff, stuff for the babies. The first thing she sees is a little plaque that’s lying in the middle of the room on the floor. It’s painted white and has pale purple letters on it that spell out Taylor. Each letter has a different flower or butterfly on it. There’s an identical plaque next to it, void of a name because Louis hasn’t decided on a name yet.

There are baby things everywhere, things that Louis has been in need of, like swings for the babies. It’s white with periwinkle cushions to support the babies; it has little yellow stars on the netting and hanging from the mobile.

There’s so much in this room and Louis is overwhelmed trying to take it all in.

“Liam’s been working on the names when you think he’s in class,” Niall says from behind her. “He bought the letters but he’s painted it all himself, every little flower. He bought everything else though. He’s been keeping it here, waiting to surprise you after the babies were born.”

Louis breathes out. God. She really is ridiculous, isn’t she? She’s an idiot, an absolute idiot. A hormonal monster of a person… or something like that.

She turns back to look at Zayn and Niall, both of them smirking at her, like they can hear the thoughts swirling around in her head. “I hate you both,” she says, shoving past them.

>>>>

Three days later Louis’ contractions start. At first she wasn’t sure what was going on, why she felt like her entire body was cramping up. It started out dull at first, nothing too bad, but it’s getting worse, she thinks. They’re coming in at every ten minutes, which isn’t close enough to go to the hospital but it’s snowing outside and Louis is scared. She can feel her muscles pinching, the feeling radiating from her abdomen and up her spine, causing a full body ache.

Louis breathes out harshly as her last one washes through her, fading out in under a minute. She has ten more minutes to figure out how she’s going to get to the hospital. And even though she hasn’t spoken to Liam in a while, she calls him, pressing his contact name and waiting.

It rings and rings and rings, on and on until she gets his voicemail. She tries again. Voicemail. And again and again and again until Louis has called him almost twenty times. She’s tempted to leave a voicemail, letting him listen to her go through a contraction, but that’d be weird and if Liam doesn’t want to talk to her then whatever. She’ll try again in a minute.

Louis calls Zayn next, cursing him under her breath when he doesn’t answer right away. But he does answer, sounding out of breath. “Hello?”

“I’m in labor.”

“You’re what?” Zayn shouts, shuffling around.

“Can you come and get me? I don’t want to go to the hospital alone and I’m scared to drive.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zayn says. “I got you, don’t worry. I’ll be there soon. How um—how close are you?”

“Ten minutes apart.”

“Right, is that good?”

“It means we’ve got time,” she answers, rolling her eyes. “But I can’t get a hold of Liam.”

“Don’t worry about Liam right now.”

Louis shakes her head. She’s going to worry about Liam a lot right now, thank you very much. She needs him there. She needs him here. Louis can’t do this without him. They’ve gone through it all together, even step of the way he’s been there and she needs him here for the final stretch. He took the birthing classes with her. He’s her birthing partner. She needs him.

“Please, Zayn. I need to get a hold of Liam. He has to be there.”

She hears Zayn sigh and she can imagine that he’s running his fingers through his hair. “I’ll take care of it,” he tells her, right before hangs up, just in time for Louis’ stomach to knot up, another contraction pushing through. 

>>>>

The contractions only get worse, so much worse. They rip through Louis’ body, making her feel like she’s about to be torn apart. They’re coming every minute but she’s not dilated enough, her body isn’t ready, but the pinching muscles deep in her gut are telling Louis otherwise. The nurses refuse to listen to Louis, to call her doctor and get these babies out of her.

Louis is going to scream at the next person who tells her to remain calm. She’s in fucking pain and no one is doing anything besides reminding her to breathe. She wants the drugs that Harry told her about. She’s exhausted and her entire body hurts.

“You’re doing great, Lou,” Zayn says, running his fingers through her hair. “It won’t be much longer. You just have to be patient, babe.”

“This is fucking awful,” Louis moans. She just wants to have her babies. She doesn’t want to deal with this anymore. “God, when is someone going to help me.”

“I’m helping you,” Zayn says, sounding slightly offended. “I’ve done this before, so I’m basically a professional at it, remember? Don’t worry, okay? You’re with me.”

“Where’s my doctor?” Louis asks, for what’s probably the four hundredth time since she’s been here. She’s ready to have her baby and he’s probably at home sleeping, enjoying his contraction free life. What a fucking jackass.

“They’re not going to call him in until you’re dilated enough, Louis. They’ve told you that.”

“Where’s Liam?” Louis finally looks up at Zayn, tilting her head up just a bit to look into his eyes. “Is he coming?”

“I don’t know, babe,” Zayn sighs, squeezing her hand as her heartbeat begins to pick up, another contraction on its way.

>>>>

Louis is waiting for her epidural, twelve hours of labor and they’re finally showing her mercy. That’s all she wants, a bit of sympathy. It’s taking forever, though, because they have to bring in some guy, apparently he has to administer it. Whatever, she doesn’t care; she just wants the pain to stop. She needs to sleep. She can feel her exhaustion deep in her bones, weighing her down and making everything hard, even keeping her eyes open feels like an impossible task when she’s clenching her jaw, groaning through the pain what feels like every few seconds.

“Knock knock,” someone says and Louis turns, dazed, hoping that it’s the doctor. It’s not, of course it’s not. It’s Harry. “I think I found someone that you might need.” She reaches out, grabbing onto someone and yanking them forward.

It’s Liam and Louis breathes out, swallowing down a sob that threatens to spill from her lips. She’s so revealed. She’s so happy to see him.

“Oh fucking Christ, thank you,” Louis breathes out, clenching her eyes shut and clamping her jaw shut as another contraction comes, her stomach clenching and knotting with it.

Liam doesn’t do anything, just stares at her as Zayn reminds her that she needs to breathe, that the babies need oxygen. Louis is going to kill him. She’s honestly going to kill Zayn as soon as these babies are out of her body.

“Liam, are you going to help me?” Louis croaks out, breathing heavily. “Oh god.” They’re coming in so close and they’re getting worse. She can feel them up her back and down her legs.

“Louis, breathe through it. It’ll make it easier.”

“Liam, fucking get over here,” Louis grits out. She needs him close. He won’t annoy her and make her want to throw the remote at his head. She’s been fantasizing about doing it to Zayn for hours.

Liam finally moves at her demand, legs moving slowly across the room. Zayn moves out of the way, breathing out. Liam slides right into his place, taking Louis hand and sliding the chair as close to the bed as he can. “He’s right, Lou, you have to breathe,” Liam says quietly, resting his other arm on the bed so that he can rest his face on it, looking at Louis. “Just like they taught us, yeah? Deep breath in and release it nice and slow. Harry said they’re coming with the pain stuff, just keep breathing.”

The contraction subsides slowly, taking its time to calm down. Louis is fairly certain that she was only able to catch one quick breath, nothing deep and purposeful. But it’s a start.

“Louis, what am I doing here?” Liam asks, voice quiet so that only she can hear it.

“I need you here,” she tells him, staring into his deep brown eyes. She wishes they were at home, in her bed, so that she can wrap herself around him and hold him close. She just wants to feel him next to her, more than just his hand in hers. She’s missed him, so much. But she’s ridiculous and of course that means never called him like she should have.

“You told me to leave you alone.”

“Liam, I’m pregnant. You can’t listen to me. I’m a raging ball of hormones.”

“You broke my heart when you told me that, Lou.”

“I’m sorry,” Louis admits, holding up a finger, telling him to wait as another contraction comes. Fuck. She just needs five minutes of peace. That’s all she needs. That’s all she wants. “I thought that because they weren’t yours-“

“They’re mine,” Liam interrupts. “It was bad wording. I shouldn’t have even tried to explain it to Sophia. I don’t know—it was bad wording. I’m sorry.”

“Awful wording,” Louis corrects, whimpering when her stomach starts to knot up again. There’s a part of her that wants her to cry, that wants to curl up in a ball and sob until it’s all over, when she’s got her babies in her arms. “God, I’m sorry. I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“I love you, you know, overreaction and all,” he says, smiling at her. The brown of his eyes are hidden behind squinty wrinkles, his entire face grinning at her, not just his mouth. He looks so happy, so sincere and Louis might cry at that, too.

“Yeah, I figured it out,” she replies, smiling back at him, grateful for the few seconds of relief.

Liam smiles at her for a second more before he leans down to steal a quick kiss. Quick because another contraction hits, breaking up what was supposed to be a beautiful reunion scene, like something from a movie.

“Zayn, go and get a nurse to check her dilation. Those are so close,” Harry says and Louis forgot they were still there, but she’s glad Harry’s here, she has the right idea.

“Last time they checked I was eight and my water broke, I think. I felt a weird pop when they checked.”

“What does that mean?” Liam asks, his thick brows pulled together.

“It means the babies will be here soon.”

“Our babies?”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees, smiling at him for just a second before there’s another contraction, but Louis thinks this one might be worth it when she sees a man donned in scrubs enter the room, a funny machine with him. Finally someone that can take the pain away, she thinks, squeezing onto Liam’s hand.

>>>>

The babies are beautiful, small and absolutely gorgeous. They both have thick brown hair, sparkling blue eyes and the most peaceful expressions that she’s ever seen, when they’re not grumpy and crying. Liam had cried when they came out, rambling to Louis about how amazing they are, how perfect they looked, and how they each had all the bits and pieces that they needed, nothing wrong with them whatsoever.

Louis was exhausted afterwards, wanting to curl up and sleep, but then she was handed a baby and suddenly that’s all Louis could focus on. She wasn’t allowed to hold them when they first came out, just given a glimpse before one was rushed off to get cleaned up and taken care of. The second one came a few minutes later, born four minutes after her sister.

But now, now they’re able to hold their babies without interruption. They’re perfect, everything about them from their cute toes to their button noses. But there is a still a matter of naming the second and Louis thinks that she has just the name.

“What about Harper?” Louis asks, turning to look up at Liam. He’s holding Taylor, rocking her gently.

“Harper?”

“Yeah, Harper Grey. That’s her name,” she says, shifting her arm up so that Liam can see the baby in her arms. It fits her. It’s perfect, just like she is. Louis knew that she would think of something when she met her, when she had her in her arms.

“Grey?”

“I like it,” Louis defends.

“What about Taylor? What’s her middle name going to be?”

“Genevieve,” she says, nodding. “That way they have that matchy name thing that all twins seem to have going for them, only it’s their middle name. Unless you count the er sound at their names.”

“Yeah, that works,” Liam says, staring down at the baby in his arms with a smile. “Taylor Genevieve.”

“Payne,” Louis says, watching as Liam’s eyes snap up to look at her, like he’s not sure if she said it. “Well, obviously right now it’s Tomlinson. I talked to Dr. Grimshaw about it, he said you’d have to adopt them, since it’d be against the law to put you on the birth certificate now. But yeah. Tomlinson on paper but Payne in actuality I think, yeah?”

“Taylor and Harper Payne,” Liam says, breathing out a shaky breath. “Wow.”

“Well, don’t get a big head about it,” Louis mumbles, forcing a laugh out of Liam. He walks towards the side of the bed, grinning at her when he leans down to kiss her, sighing happily.

Louis pulls away first, smiling up at him. “Switch me babies,” she says, because she wants both of them to have equal time with her, so they both know it’s her, that she’s still here even though they’re no longer inside of her. It takes some time to figure out how they’re going to do that but they figure it out, Taylor settling against her as Liam adjusts Harper in his arms.

He looks happy, happier than Louis has ever seen him before and it occurs to her, much like the last time they were in the hospital together for Harry, just how much she feels for the man standing above her.

“Hey.” Liam looks down at her, brow raised. “Did I tell you that I loved you?”

“I figured it out,” Liam mutters, winking at her.

>>>>>>>>

Louis leans against the counter, watching as Harry navigates her kitchen, putting the final touches on the girl’s birthday cake. They’re tiny, just a few inches wide, iced in yellow with a pink daisy on top. Their names are on the sides in green font that Harry insists are the stem and leaves of the flower. Louis doesn’t see it, but she’s not going to argue with a pregnant woman.

“Did you make a special cake for Noah?” Louis asks, dipping her pinky in the icing. It’s just a safety test, to make sure the girls will like it.

“No, he’s going to eat a slice of the one over there with us. And when I say eat, I mean he’s going to beat it with his fists and feed it to your dog,” Harry says, distracted. “He’s going through a picky eater phase.”

Louis nods, pretending to understand. Her girls have never been picky eaters, not since they started them on baby food, with the addition of some solids. They love fruits, mostly. Although, Louis does have a hard time getting Harper to eat her peas.

“Have you figured out what to do about that?”

“Zayn thinks we should take him to see a doctor, but he eats enough. It shouldn’t be this difficult, right?” Louis shrugs. “I don’t know. My patience is still at a decent level. Maybe we should see a doctor, though.”

“It might make things easier on Zayn. I’m not sure a cranky toddler and a hormonal girlfriend are really the best things for a guy,” Louis says, hoping she sounds reasonable.

It’s been almost a year since Zayn and Harry have been together and Louis still can’t believe it. But then again, there are a lot of things she can’t believe, like how she has two children of her own, made under careful planning with a doctor and frozen sperm. She can’t believe Harry is on baby number two, a little girl that, as of right now, is going to be named Alice. And she can’t believe that her best friend is about to have his first child…well, second if Louis counts Noah, which she should. 

“When are you and Liam going to have a third?” Harry asks and Louis laughs. Please. She has twins. She’s not a fool.

“Not for a couple years,” comes the sound of Liam’s voice. Louis turns, smiling widely when she sees both her babies in his arms. “Unlike the two of you, we want to wait until the girls are older.”

“This was a happy accident,” Harry says, rubbing her belly.

“Hi,” Taylor says, grinning at Louis. It’s their favorite word, the two of them mumbling it to everyone they see.

“Hi,” Harper repeats, whining and thrashing around. She doesn’t smile until Liam sets them both on the ground. “Hi.”

The two of them look so different from when they were first born, their eyes still blue, but their hair has lightened to a blonde, still thick and long, grown just past their ears. They’re chubbier now, with puffy cheeks and little rolls at their wrists and down their thighs, stomachs nice and round from the formula. They’re still the most beautiful babies that Louis has ever seen—biased or not, it’s true.

“Hi, babies,” Louis says, kneeling down to look at them. Noah stomps over next to her, crouching as he smiles at her. “Hi, Noah.” He grins at her, turning and running off. Both of the girls follow him, Harper tripping on her way, landing on her hands and knees. She pauses, sitting there for a second, setting her head down on the ground.

“Just act casual,” Liam mumbles.

Harper waits ten seconds before she stands up again, running into the other room like nothing ever happened. Louis breathes out; grateful that went down without a tantrum. Harper is their little diva, the one who gets angrier quicker, who cries more, and who demands more attention. Taylor is more independent, wanting to do things on her own without her parents help. Polar opposites in personality but identical in looks.

“She was so angry about getting her butt changed,” Liam says, shaking his head.

“I thought she was going to snap her spine trying to roll away,” Zayn adds, washing his hands quickly. “Where’s Niall?”

“He’s in the other room, probably where the babies ran off to,” Louis says. “We came in here to finish the cakes.”

“I’m going to join him,” Zayn mumbles, stalking off. Harry doesn’t say anything when she leaves, just follows him out of the room.

Louis turns to face Liam now that they’re alone, grinning at him. “Our little girls are one today. Can you believe it?”

“No, I can’t.” Liam shakes his head, reaching out to place his hands on Louis’ hips, pulling her in. “They’re toddlers now.”

“That they are. It’s unbelievable.”

“I know. I was thinking last night, it was just two years ago when I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have you, I didn’t have them, just me. It’s strange, how quickly things change.”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees, breathing out as she wraps her arms around his neck. “And to think, you wouldn’t have any of this if you weren’t a no-good-cab-thief.”

Liam laughs at that, pinching Louis’ sides as the sound pours out of him, forcing a smile out of Louis. “I think you’re the one who stole my cab.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Louis mumbles, leaning up on her tip toes to kiss Liam. It really doesn’t matter to her anymore who stole the cab, she’s just happy that it happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! You can find me on [tumblr](http://zaynlilo.tumblr.com), along with a [rebloggable post](http://zaynlilo.tumblr.com/post/121855602207/room-for-one-more-but-liam-well-hes-great-and) for the fic!


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